I beamed. "Thank you. Two weeks. Crap, that doesn't
give me a lot of time to put together a portfolio. The fire destroyed all my
work. Plus, I have the classes here to teach, and taking care of a
newborn—"
"Don't worry about classes." Bernard cut me off.
"Your job here is secure. This is your home, and we take care of our own.
We'll all help with Ana. Just focus on getting that scholarship."
Desirai nodded. "If anyone can do it, you can."
Murmurs of agreement filled the room. I hugged the
acceptance packet and squealed, then reached for Des's hand. "It's good to
see you. I thought you were still in recovery from your injuries."
She'd suffered some burns and cuts during the Rent-A-Kid
escape, but appeared to be doing very well. "I'm all healed up. Do you
mind if I hold your baby?"
"Please do. She loves meeting new people."
I couldn't read my daughter's mind as I could others', because
she didn't have the mental development. Her thoughts were more instinctual,
more connected to her moods and her energy. And I didn't have to dip into her
mind like I did with others. Ana was always a part of me.
Brad stood by Des, his arms around her. I didn't have to
read their minds to know that love was blooming between them—it had probably
started when Brad had helped nurse the injured back to health.
I was happy for them, even if it did cut into my heart to
think about love at all these days. But with my dreams finally becoming a
reality, sadness would not pull me down. A new life awaited me, and I would
live it to the fullest.
"Have any of you heard from Luke and Lucy?" I
asked.
Bernard took the baby from Father Patrick and cuddled her.
"They're still on assignment. IPI hasn't reported in for a while, so we
don't know how it's going."
I looked at Des. "Could you connect with their dreams
and see how it's going? If you're well enough?"
She blushed, and Brad squeezed her shoulder.
They are so cute together
.
"Sure, I can try."
"Thank you. And tell them about Ana, if you can. They'd
want to know. They are the godparents, after all."
"I will."
Mary slipped out of the room. Relieved that she'd finally
left, I relaxed and enjoyed the presence of my friends. But my dream, from
before Ana had been born, still unsettled my thoughts. Serena needed help.
There must be some way to better use my gifts to find
these kids.
Des placed Ana back into my hands, and I kissed her head. As
much as I wanted to help all the kids out there who needed me, the little girl
in my arms needed me most. It was time to be a mother.
The stone skips over the water, one-two-three-four-five,
before it drops into the river. "Take that, Bro! Bet you can't beat
it."
Luke laughs and flicks his own stone out, but it falls
after only four skips. "Guess you got me that time. You're pretty bad-ass,
Sis. I still remember the look on our teacher's face when you flipped him over
in the hall after he faux attacked you. He underestimated you."
"People often do. It's my secret weapon." Lucy
stretches out on the bank of the river and lets the sun warm her skin.
"It's nice to have a day off from classes. Think Sam is having fun at her
art workshop?"
She doesn't see him, but she can tell her twin rolls his
eyes. "Sam plus art equals massive fun for her. She probably doesn't even
know the rest of the world exists right now."
The water laps at her bare feet, cool and inviting. She
slides her bare legs deeper into the water and kicks up, splashing Luke.
"What the hell. Not cool, Sis. Not cool at
all." But he says it with a huge grin and splashes her back.
"Can't we just stay here? I don't even want to deal
with Mary tonight. She's such a bitch!"
Luke flops down and looks up at the canopy of trees.
"She's... yeah, she's not great, but she's not so bad. I mean, her power
doesn't affect me, so it's not such a big deal. I'm un-seducible."
"Ha! Right! Well, by her at least. But I recall some
seduction happening with Carey, and with Elizabeth."
"Sister! Not at the same time, at least. Give me
some credit."
"Fine, not at the same time. Still, you're quite the
lady's man."
Luke sits up, touches his finger to his chest and makes a
hissing noise. "With hotness like this, how can the ladies resist?"
Lucy rolls her eyes, but enjoys the teasing—a perfect
moment on a perfect day. Can life get any better?
Another wrist flick and she sends another stone into the
water. It skips a few beats, then hits something emerging from the lake.
Uh-oh.
An alligator's head surfaces, its eyes staring into Lucy.
She's seen it somewhere before, knows it somehow. But that makes no sense;
she's only ever seen alligators in books and television.
"Um, Luke, we gotta get out of here. We have
company."
She grabs her brother, her heart pounding in her chest.
The alligator swims toward them. It wants them. It's
taking revenge. They must run.
Luke stands there, staring at the creature as it
approaches. The scene reminds Lucy of a horror movie. The killer's movements are
slow and methodical, yet he still catches his victims. How does the killer
always catch up?
"Luke, what the hell? We have to move, now!"
She pulls at him again, but it's as if he's planted in cement.
The alligator's mouth opens, revealing its sharp, blood-stained
teeth. It will rip them apart piece-by-piece.
Luke's voice comes out low and monotone, like a zombie.
"What's the point? What's the point of any of it?"
His hopelessness crashes into Lucy, pulling her down with
him.
No!
She can't let him go. She grabs his arm and uses all of her
strength to dislodge him from whatever is holding him.
The alligator approaches. Its mouth gapes wide.
Lucy can almost feel the sharp tips cutting into her skin...
but no, not hers.
Luke!
"Luke!" she screams. Tears stream down her
face.
The alligator grips Luke's foot between its massive jaws,
and blood spurts out. The alligator grinds Luke's ankle until it's red and raw
with bits of bone sticking out.
Luke does nothing—says nothing—as the alligator pulls him
into the lake.
"No, no, no, no!" Lucy can't process this, can't
believe this. It can't be happening. She sobs and looks around for a weapon—something,
anything, to stop the monster from stealing her brother. She can't say killing,
can't face that. No, Luke's not dead. He's just underwater, waiting for her to
save him.
Suddenly a gun appears in her hand. Perfect. She searches
for the alligator, but the lake ripples placidly. Finally, a bit of tale
splashes up. Lucy sees the beast in the water, and aims at where its heart should
be, trying to avoid the mouth and her brother. She shoots, over and over,
emptying her gun into the water.
The alligator disappears.
Her heart races faster and faster. She can't breathe,
can't think. All she can do is react. She splashes into the shallow water and
calls out, "Where are you? Luke? Please! Splash or something!"
She pauses to listen. The river is still and deathly
quiet. No, not deathly. She won't use words like that. Not with Luke down
there. But then the water bubbles as something slowly surfaces. "Luke?
That you?"
Fear surges through her. If it's Luke, she needs to grab
him before he drowns. If it's the alligator, she'll die.
She's willing to risk it. She moves forward, set to either
run or grab.
Her breath hitches. A hand. "Luke!"
She darts forward and grabs him, and starts pulling him
to shore. His hand feels cold, too cold. She can't get his head above water.
His whole body floats up, pale and ghostly.
She drags him in, not seeing—refusing to see—the rest. But
she can't look away, or deny what's right in front of her.
Luke. His chest full of bullet holes.
Dead.
Lucy killed him.
She screams.
***
Lucy jolted awake.
A dream. It was just a dream.
Relief poured through her.
A familiar voice called to her. "Lucy, Lucy." She
responded to it, cautiously, moving slowly to assess her whereabouts. Her
subconscious trusted that voice.
Desirai lay next to her. They both rested in a large,
comfortable bed in a fancy house.
The mansion.
"Des, it's you!" Lucy gave her a hug. "Oh my
God, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. I don't even know what's going
on! I've had the craziest dreams! First, Luke and I were stranded in this crazy
jungle, and then Luke was killed by an alligator. I'm just so glad to be
home."
Desirai smiled sadly. "Lucy, you're still dreaming. I
brought you here to show you something."
Lucy frowned.
Right. Des is a dream-walker.
She'd
given Sam important information about Rent-A-Kid security once, before they
took down the whole facility.
So, what part was real? Not Luke dying; that couldn't be.
Looking back, none of the dreams seemed especially desirable. They were all
nightmares, so where was her body?
The dream world Desirai created felt so warm and happy, Lucy
didn't want to ever leave.
Des smiled. "I finally found you. How are you?"
What to say?
"I'm good, I guess. We're on our
mission to save the kids, right?"
Des nodded. "Yes."
"Okay then, I guess we're still working out the details
on that." Why did it feel so hard to distinguish reality from dream? This
inability to access her own life scared Lucy more than all of her scary dreams.
Well, almost more.
But Lucy couldn't stay scared in Desirai's dream world; too
much happiness and joy lived there.
Des reached for Lucy. "Come, I have something exciting
to show you. You're going to love it."
Lucy couldn't imagine what it could be, but she allowed the
girl to lead her through a door and into a brightly lit room full of life and
golden light.
Several people stood around a bed.
Is someone sick? No,
that wouldn't be happy.
Desirai pulled her forward, and Lucy saw.
Sam lay in the bed holding a baby.
"Oh my God, Ana was born." Tears stung Lucy's
eyes.
The baby gurgled and then opened her eyes and smiled. She
had Sam's smile, and blue eyes that matched both of her parents'.
"Sam, your baby is so cute. She's beautiful." Lucy
reached out to touch the baby's cheek, but her fingers slid right through. She
pulled back, scared and sad.
"This is just a dream," Des said. "A memory,
really. My memory. I'll show you what I can."
Disappointment surged through Lucy, but she felt grateful to
have this, at least, since she couldn't be there for the birth.
"Sam did such a great job. And she felt your love and
support the whole time."
Desirai showed her flashes of the birth. Lucy's heart
skipped when Sam's vitals slipped, but she and the baby had both survived and
were now doing well. That was all that mattered.
The baby gurgled again, and everyone in the room
oohed
and
ahhed
. Lucy spotted Des, the memory-Des, standing by the bed with
Brad's arm around her.
"So you and Brad...?"
"Yeah, we're together. Totally unexpected but really
incredible."
"I'm really happy for you." A twinge of jealousy
aside, Lucy wanted Des to be happy. She'd just hoped... well... Brad was hot
and nice and really talented. She'd been hoping to spend more time with him
when she returned from this mission, but it looked like that wasn't going to
happen.
The baby cooed again, and Lucy looked back at her. So tiny
and fragile. She and Luke had to complete their assignment and destroy
Rent-A-Kid for good. They couldn't let anything happen to Baby Ana or any of
the kids.
"Have you shown Luke yet? He needs to see this."
Luke needed to focus, and maybe this would help.
Des shook her head. "No, I'll connect with him next. I
can only do one at a time."
Mary stood in the doorway, hidden partially by the frame.
"How is Mary here? She's dead!"
"She survived. We just found out. I'm as surprised as
you are."
Something shifted. The room faded and a man's voice, quiet,
raspy and old, broke through. "Wake up, Lucy."
It sounded familiar. "Who is this?"
"Wake up," the voice repeated.
Lucy looked around but couldn't see anything. "Where
are you?"
"Wake up, Lucy. Your brother needs you." The voice
melted away, and Sam's room reappeared with all its colors and sounds.
Desirai reached out. "What happened? Are you
okay?"
Lucy shook from fear. "No. Something's wrong. I need to
wake up. How do I wake up?" Panic gripped her.
Luke!
Des looked around in alarm. "I don't know. I mean...
you can... I've heard that when you die, you wake up."
"I thought it was when you die in your dream, you die
in real life?"
Des shook her head. "No. Not true."
Okay, I can do this.
"You're sure."
Des looked scared, but nodded.
Lucy walked to the open window. They were on the third
floor.
Des looked out. "That's not high enough to kill
you."
"It is if I land on my head."
She jumped headfirst out the window.
***
She jolted awake. Again. Was this real or another dream? She
didn't know anymore, but she had to find her brother.
She lay in their camp, where she'd fallen asleep the night
before. The dark sky dumped buckets of rain on her. She should've slept under
shelter like Luke, but it had been a perfect night, and she liked the warmth of
the fire, which Mother Nature had now drowned.