Synergy (See #3)(4)

When I reached the end of my driveway, I heard the whispers begin; I’d reached the end of whatever invisible boundary they had. I put the car in park, prepared to help a few of them before I drove. When I did that in the past, they were always more agreeable, more patient with me.

Today was different, though. I didn’t hear my name; at least, I didn’t think I did. It sounded like there were millions of them; the sound was a harsh, violent hiss. It was so loud that I covered my ears and squinted my eyes closed. The pain was agonizing. It felt like my eardrums were going to burst from the powerful vibration of the hiss. The whispers weren’t angry; it was more like a warning, like they were trying to tell me to stay at my home, but I didn’t care for anyone telling me what to do. Especially shadows. Just as I went to say, “Show yourself,” they stopped - and just as they stopped, an exploding white light consumed everything around me.





Chapter Two


My heart was beating so violently that my chest hurt. As I shielded my eyes with my hands, I felt a peaceful bliss come over me; it was so calm that it nearly stopped my heart. It was as if every shadow had been helped at once and the light that they simultaneously became was so vibrant that it was blinding. It diminished just as quickly as it appeared. I focused on the bliss that I thought I felt, but it faded with the light as well. I tried to think if I’d thought or done something differently than I normally had done, but there was nothing.

I glanced from side to side, wondering if Silas was near, if perhaps the thought that I had to speak to him today had somehow reached him and he was lurking in the shadows, playing the part of the silent hero.

Nothing. Not even a sign of a butterfly in the air. A horrid feeling of foreboding settled in my gut, telling me to turn back, but I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I put the car in drive and took in a deep breath. I scanned the side of the road as I drove to Wesley’s to see if I saw a shadow, a butterfly, an image of Silas standing in the distance, but nothing was there. I was having a hard time shaking this odd feeling I felt...it was like it was the calm before the storm, the illusion that all was well. My eyes could find no reason to be afraid, but my body and soul were screaming at me to be aware. I had that feeling often, usually when I was just feet from Bianca in The Realm, when I thought that I finally had her, that I would stop this demon, that collected broken hearts, for good.

Every time I thought I had Bianca in my grip, she’d either fake her death or simply vanish into thin air. I had to find a way to beat her, to end her.

As I pulled onto Wesley’s street, I saw something that seemed to irritate me for every reason and no reason: Aden’s Hummer. He jogged with us every morning, too. He claimed he needed the exercise, but I knew that was just a cover. Twins can never keep secrets from each other long, and Aden knew about Silas. He knew that he wasn’t just some guy that had helped me and Monroe that one night; he knew that Silas loved me, that he wanted to kill Draven, and he made it a point to be with me on this jog simply because he knew that Madison wouldn’t come, that ideally this would be the one time that I wasn’t with one of them. That if Silas were to show himself, it would be then.

Wesley was playing with his dog, Princess, who also jogged with us every morning in the front yard. Aden was on his phone, pacing next to Wesley.

Wesley smiled at me as I got out and clipped my phone to my running pants. I nodded for him to come, and he made a face, telling me that I was wrong, that I should wait on Aden to finish his call. So, I whistled at Princess, telling her to come; she did so eagerly. I grabbed her leash and took off in a sprint with her at my side, then glanced over my shoulder to see Wesley tapping Aden on the shoulder before he began to run to catch up with me.

“Feisty this morning, aren’t we?” Wesley asked when he caught up with me.

“Not a fan of being babysat, and I didn’t get much sleep. Bad dreams.”

“Ah...he loves you. I should be the one offended if you really do need to be protected,” he said, laughing. “Same nightmare?”

“Yep. Ash. Lots of it.”

“I told you before: your dreams are you.”

“Explain that. Like, that’s how I see things in my life? Is that what you mean?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Kind of. For most people, yes -- but with what you can do, and the fact that you’re curious about your past lives, your mind is trying to give you what you want.”

“Not a warning; that’s reassuring. Monroe had a nightmare last night, too. Must be something in the air.”

“Well, I bet I can make you smile.”

I stopped my jog. “Is he here?”

Wesley waved for me to follow him. “No, but I bet it won’t be long now.”

“How are you so sure?” I said as I picked up my jog again.

“I dreamed of him, and I keep seeing signs.”

“Signs? What do you mean signs?”

He nodded to a parked truck on the side of the street that had ‘Austin County’ on the tags. “I bet on this run, I’ll see his name at least three times.”

I looked at the tags on the truck again to see the last three numbers of the plate: 555. I swallowed nervously as I tried to balance my air as I jogged.

“Is that like a Chara thing? Seeing things like that?”