Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(13)

“I’m not an idiot. You know my memory is just under the surface. Explain it…if I don’t understand it, I’ll tell you…it can only help make me stronger.”

He slowly turned his head from side to side as his eyes moved to the ceiling. “Fine…when I heard you say you were afraid, I saw you...I saw you in the driveway...the rearview mirror...his car…you running in the house and staring out the window, waiting for him to come.”

His eyes moved back to mine, and I held my breath. I was waiting for him to ask me why I was in his dad’s truck. I ignored the pause he gave and nodded for him to go on.

“Seeing is different for me now….I don’t have to look at someone to see a memory; if I’ve seen it before, it’s now mine and I call it back at will. I can ‘see’ it again without the person showing me.”

“Every memory – it’s now yours?” I mumbled.

“Yeah…” His eyes moved back to ceiling. “It’s like having a library of memories – doorways to step through. The night of your accident, you showed me everything, every word he ever said to you...his house here...everything.

“Just now, I was mad that he was following you here…I used your memory – the one of his house – and I went there, to find him. On his desk in his study, I saw his phone, and I read the texts you sent him back and forth today…” His jaw clenched, and his eyes were fierce. “I grabbed the book on the desk and smashed the phone as hard as I could. He must have came home or heard me, because he opened the door and I flung the book him…then I was back here….back here with you.”

My entire body was numb. My arm fell from under me, and I stared at him. “Are you sure? Are you sure that happened – that it’s not just an illusion, your mind toying with you?”

He turned his head to the side and looked at me. “Go look at the book,” he said firmly.

I hesitated, but my curiosity overtook me and I pulled myself up and crawled down the bed and reached for the book. I opened the heavy leather binder, and inside I found photos of me, me and Bianca, me and Britain. There were words on the pages, but I couldn’t read them…they almost looked like they were in Latin. My trembling hands dropped the book, and I slowly looked over my shoulder. Draven had his arms behind his head beneath his pillow; he was staring at me with a mix of anger, jealousy, and fear.

“How long have you been able to do this? When did this start?” I asked as I slowly crawled to his side. When I reached his chest, I laid my head there. He pulled his right arm from beneath his pillow and held my side as he continued to stare into my eyes.

“A while…I didn’t start moving deeper into a memory until just a few weeks ago.”

“What happened a few weeks ago?”

“I don’t know…I was playing one night…trying to come up with the right song. I started thinking about what happened – Britain, that girl you’re so scared of; then out of nowhere, I was in his house….I didn’t understand how I was there and tried to focus and bring myself back, but when I focused, I didn’t come back; instead, the house around me crumbled, and I was standing in the middle of nowhere – in the middle of hell….dogs….demon dogs with red eyes chased me….I told myself it was a dream and not to be scared, but as I ran I fell, and when I fell it hurt – it was real…I was terrified.”

“How - how did you stop it?” I said in a broken voice. I was fighting tears and anger.

Draven’s arm tightened around me. “I thought of you…if I only had one thought left, I wanted it to be of you. I closed my eyes and remembered your touch…your voice…the smell of your hair - then all of it was gone. I was in my studio, holding my guitar – it was as if not a single moment had passed.”

“Are they doing this to you? Is Britain doing this to you?” I asked as I raised my head. I was prepared to leave. I would book a flight to Montana, find Austin and Landen, and be gone before the sun set.

Draven reached for my shoulder and urged me to lie back down. “No…it’s not them…I’ve been in other memories that had nothing to do with them. Sometimes I’m not in a memory at all; the nightmare just begins, and I have to endure it.”

“Do you always get out by thinking of me? How long does it last? How long does it feel like it lasts?”

He leaned his head forward and let his lips rest on my forehead. I felt a warm sensation ease through my body. “You always bring me out…but…sometimes it’s so dark – so wickedly real, that it takes a while for me to focus on you, to let you bring me back. I think...I think whatever I’m fighting knows you’re my weapon because…because a few weeks ago, the nightmare that came to life was about you – I was chasing you…”

“Chasing me where?”

“I don’t know…when I saw you there, I thought maybe you were there. You ran, and I followed - but after talking to Grayson, I think it’s a lure…this nightmare is trying to lead me somewhere dark, and in this illusion or vision...it’s using you as bait. It’s not you, though...I know it’s not you. I’ve come to your house while you’re sleeping and watched your dreams….before this moment or this morning, you had no idea what I was fighting.”