Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(14)

“Who’s Grayson – that boy?” I said as I looked to the locked door.

“No, that’s Winston. Grayson is his older brother…their sister, Monroe, is here, too. Dad didn’t tell you their names?” he asked bleakly. I knew then he was mad at his dad for even mentioning this to me.

I looked up at him. “Don’t be mad at your dad for talking to me. He didn’t come to me; I ran into him, and I’m glad I did. All he wanted to talk about was you anyway.”

“He’s been threatening to talk to you for a while; it was only a matter of time.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were mad at me for not leaving with Austin.”

“I was mad, but that wasn’t fair. Even if I convinced you, one day you would have figured out what was happening to me; you would have killed me for bringing it to another world.”

“You’re wrong. I want to go now – I want to run. She’s doing this…somehow, Bianca is doing this to you.”

“Your judgment is clouded…you’re wrong. I’m no different from Winston, Grayson, or your dad – and Bianca has no reason to want them.” His eyes were full of guilt.

“Your dad said they could see like you…how? Do they have nightmares that chase them? How do they get out?”

Draven pulled himself up and leaned against his headboard. I leaned across him and stared into his eyes.

“When it first started, they thought of their mom…but now they have a song they focus on to pull them out.”

“Where’s their mom? That girl looks young.”

“She is; she’s only fifteen. Grayson has custody of her. He’s twenty two. Winston just turned eighteen.”

“Where is the mom at – with their dad?”

“They never knew their dad. Their mom…their mom is missing.”

“What do you mean, ‘missing’?”

Draven looked down as his entire body tensed. “They think she’s trapped in a nightmare – trapped in that place I keep getting called to.”

“You don’t believe that,” I mumbled as I read his tone.

“I don’t know what I believe – or what to think…all I know is that I don’t want you having anything to do with this. Dad didn’t bring those kids here to help us; he brought them here so we could help them. No one has ever talked to them about what they could do….they’ve always been feared or seen as cursed. They didn’t have a Nana like we did to tell them that they were extraordinary - not cursed.”

“What does she think about this – about them?”

“She hasn’t said much. Monroe hasn’t said a word since she’s been here…I think Nana is worried about her.”

“She hasn’t said anything about these nightmares? Told you not to touch anything there, not to step too far into the memory?”

His eyes moved to me. “All she’s said is…is to fight like hell and come back – for me to never conceive the idea that what I saw was real.”

“Good advice,” I mumbled as I began to focus on him again. I wanted to see what he was going through.

“It’s dangerous advice…every time I fight back, the weapon I use comes back with me. I’ve almost killed Aden a few times; luckily, he saw what I was throwing coming and moved.”

“Every time you fight, you come back...that’s a way out?”

“It’s not a way out; it’s the devils way of showing me he’s in control, his way of making me hurt the ones I love in my life…hurt myself.”

“Your dad talked about my dad fighting this…did he tell you?”

Draven’s jaw tightened. “Yeah…makes me never want to get in a car.”

“If he told you that, then he must have told you that thinking about my mom brought him out, that loving her made the nightmares come less often…why are you avoiding me?”

He leaned closer to me and let his eyes dance across my face. “I’m not avoiding you…I’m protecting you. I can’t lose you…hurt you.”

“They got worse when you stopped being around me; you said so yourself.”

“They got worse when I almost had that song finished.”

My eyes widened. “Finished? You have something?”

An impish grin spread across his face. “I do, and I think it’s pretty powerful…it’s giving me control in the nightmares.”

“How?”

He slowly raised his hand and let his fingertips rest on my temple, then he gently moved his fingertips down my face…my neck. “Hard to explain…when I begin to play, the nightmare starts…when it’s over, I’m back. With that song, I can begin and end the nightmare,” he said quietly as his fingertips traced the strap on my tank top. The hum of his skin was coursing through me, and I was struggling to remain serious enough to talk about this. As I let out a jagged breath, the corners of his lips slightly turned into a smile.

“Wait –” I said as I tried to focus, “you can still play when you’re in the nightmare? Maybe you shouldn’t do this...what if that’s what’s making it worse?”

“Shh...” he whispered. “I’m not alone there anymore…I rule this curse.”