Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(51)

Chapter Eleven


Grayson threw my car reverse, then raced down the back streets, taking all the shortcuts out of town. When we got to the last stop sign, I watched him put his blinker on – he was turning the wrong way, toward the old high school, not my house.

“Take me home,” I said shortly.

He glanced to his side at me. “Draven and everyone else are at the school. Don’t you want to see them?”

“Draven is the last person I want to see right now – take me home.”

“I think you need to talk to him – not run.”

I heard a horn honk and looked behind us to see Evan’s Hummer. “Look,” I said, reaching to put my car in park. “This is my car and my life – get out.”

I didn’t wait for an argument; instead, I opened my door and walked around the front of my car. Grayson had gotten out of the driver’s seat.

“Listen – I don’t think you should drive; you’re too upset,” he said in an alarmed tone.

Monroe climbed out of the passenger seat of the Hummer and ran to my car and slid in the passenger seat. Grayson bent down to look at her. “Is this safe?”

Of course, she didn’t say a word, but she must have somehow convinced him that it was because he stood up slowly and backed away.

“I’ll tell him you’re going home,” Grayson said

“Don’t bother – I’m sure he’s having fun with Bianca in whatever freaking realm all of you enjoy playing in. I’m done with all of this,” I said as I sat down in the driver’s seat and slammed the door closed. I looked at Monroe and said, “buckle up.”

As soon as I heard the click of her belt, I floored the gas. I didn’t speed, but I was on edge – not paying attention to where I was going or what I was doing. In my rearview mirror, I could see the lights of the Hummer following me, and that just made me madder; I wanted to be alone, not babysat by anyone. I took the next right, not knowing where I was going, then turned on every road I came across – with the solid intent of losing them, for them not to know for sure where I was or what I was doing. After the fifth street I turned on, I pulled into a driveway and turned off my lights. A second later, the Hummer raced by. A satisfied grin spread across my face.

“Well, that was fun,” I said glancing at Monroe.

She smirked in response.

As my eyes moved across the dark house and yard I was in front of, the silence broke my heart.

“Are you feeding off the shadows?” I asked in a voice just above a whisper as my eyes moved to hers.

She shook her head no.

“Was Britain lying to me when he said that there were too many dark people in this town? That…because of that, it’s silent now?”

Her dark eyes told me no.

“Please don’t play the silent game with me; not in a patient mood.”

“He was honest with you,” she answered.

“What is this feeding thing? Explain it to me. Is it as horrible as it sounds? I mean, are those souls lost forever now?”

“It’s just energy… the shadows have forgotten what they’re made of – how important their energy is…so they give it up freely.”

“To those who are dark?” I asked.

“To anyone who asks for it.”

“So what happens when it’s all gone?”

“When it becomes dwindled to near nothing, they can’t sustain in this world, so they’re drawn to the dream realm.” She looked down at her hands and twirled her rings in place. “In a way, they are what makes that world so powerful…what’s left of their energy is combined with every soul that was lost…it’s what the world is made of.”

“What do you call this place? A dream world? Realm?” I asked as I tried to put this place into perspective.

“It’s whatever you need to call it – but it’s not this reality…that’s for sure,” she said as she looked up at me.

“Are your brothers – Britain, Draven – taking this energy?”

She sighed as she searched for the words to explain to me what this place was, this power that everyone seemed to be fighting for. “It’s not a command; it’s a pull. The energy is moving to them - but not because they called it; because this energy sees them as a pathway to another realm – the dream world.”

“So they want to go? They want to be dwindled down to where they can only survive there?”

She shook her head no. “They don’t know any different…they’ve forgotten love, light. They feel alone, so they want to join with others that are like them, to feel connected - but it’s a shallow promise…in that world, it’s hard to remember a reality, a life that had love in it. They have no idea that they’re sacrificing themselves.”

“Can your brothers and Draven just refuse the energy – save them instead of taking their energy?”

She nodded. “It’s hard, though…it’s like telling yourself to breathe out of your mouth instead of your nose…it can be done, but it’s not your body’s instinct…they have to fight their natural instincts to turn away what gives them life here.”

“Why all of a sudden, though? Draven has never had this problem before. The way you describe it, you’d think they weren’t human or something - and Draven is very human.”