Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(30)

Aden took the sketch. “This guy looks dark.”

“You’re just saying that because she’s dreaming of him. He could be a good guy,” I said, jerking the sketch back from him.

“Listen…Madison and I don’t have the same privilege that you and Draven have. We have to be careful of who we let in. People would think we were insane if we talked about what we could do - and if you can’t let someone in, then what’s the purpose of being with them?”

“He’s in her dreams…he’s already in,” I said smugly. It’s not like I wanted Madison to be with Britain; I was just trying to prove my point that she and Aden needed to let their guard down and trust their hearts to find someone – it just wasn’t fair that they didn’t have what me and Draven had.

“If he’s hurting her, I’ll chase the evil bastard down,” Aden said in harsh whisper. The anger in his eyes reminded me of Draven, and I felt a chill run down my spine…what was happening to us? When did we go from innocent children to people who would boldly chase evil or anything that mocked a threat?

“No one’s hurting me…I rule my life,” Madison said. I turned to see her walking from the stairway in the room. “Sorry for the mess.”

“What’s going on?” I asked as I looked at the sketches, then at her.

“Nothing.” She looked at Aden. “Anyone try to come?”

He let his eyes tell her no, then waved my phone in front of her. “You have an admirer. What’s going on, Maddie?”

“I’m not a little girl; don’t call me that,” Madison said as she rolled her eyes.

“You knew about this?” Aden asked again.

Madison shrugged her shoulders as she pulled her long, dark hair back into a ponytail and slid out of her shoes. “I only know my dreams. I don’t even know if it’s the same person or not. I think about Britain because of Charlie – you know how dreams work: what’s on your mind shows up there.”

“Wait,” I said, raising my hands to stop their fight. “What do you mean, has anyone tried to show up? What was Kara talking about – they can come here?”

As Madison reached for the sketch of the dark eyes in my hand, I swear I saw her emerald green eyes glass over. I was going to have to get her to talk about these dreams, but I knew she wouldn’t do it in front of Aden.

“Once you see a place, you can go back. Bianca was in this room…she can come back when she wants - and she has reason to now.”

I assumed Madison meant that Bianca would come back now because I told them I was awake – that their little mind game didn’t work on me a second time. I didn’t feel guilty for finally telling them. I’ve known for a long time that everyone was waiting for me to break this standoff we’d formed over the last few months. I just wished I’d picked a better time to do this – like before Draven was tempted by the dream world.

“Which means you should be at my house,” Aden said shortly as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms.

Madison’s captivating eyes shot a deadly look at Aden. “Seven teenagers and two adults in one house would not pan out too well in the long run…if you want her to go – get her dad to agree with you.”

Fear was consuming every part of me. I felt like I was a sitting duck; cruel memories of the image of Draven appearing in my room - mocking a fierce fight that took my breath away – a fight that almost led to my death. I looked down at the bracelet Monroe had made for me and played with the rock charm.

“Dad,” I whispered. “Should I move?”

Within an instant, he appeared at my side. He was solid again. I barely noticed how the lights dimmed slightly as he appeared. His eyes smiled at me as they peered into mine. Words weren’t going to come, so I just listened to what I felt, and what I felt told me that I was safe in his house…that if I went to Draven’s, I wouldn’t be able to help Madison and Monroe - and with each passing second, the desire to do just that was growing.

“I’m staying in my house,” I said to the others that were watching us. My father nodded, then faded away.

Aden slowly moved his head from side to side but chose not to push the point again.

“Tell me how we can do this, go to a place again. When you do that, can the people there see you?” I asked as I tried to grasp how complex seeing had just become.

Madison sat down next to me and Monroe on the floor and gazed into the dark, mesmerizing eyes on the sketch. “If they’re awake – or I guess you could just say aware – they see you…most don’t. Those that do, doubt themselves - but that isn’t the hard part; the hard part is trusting yourself to move through memories.”

Aden leaned forward. “She got the hard part right tonight.”

“What?!” I said, looking back at him.

“When you messed with Todd and Anna, you saw Todd’s memories through Anna’s memories...you went deep – fast.”

Madison’s eyes grew wide as a sly smile spread across her face. “What did you do?”

I winked at her. “Just put Anna in her place, made her see how low cheaters are. Maybe now she’ll stop trying to get Draven to leave me.”

“Or she’ll try harder. Either way, I bet it was fun to watch.” Madison’s eyes grew wide as if she were in awe. “It didn’t scare you to move into Todd’s memories from hers? You trusted yourself to do that?”