Chapter Nineteen

"This is where it all began," Jake said as he and Emily walked to his old swing by the barn.

"It's so strange being here in person." Emily sat down on the swing gingerly. She felt the solidness beneath her and smiled. Jake smiled back and pulled back the swing and pushed her as he used to.

Emily laughed. "How weird is this?" she asked.

"Weird is our life."

Emily smiled. "Depends on how you look at it. To me, coming here in spirit was as normal if I was here in body. To you and your family it was weird."

"Yeah," Jake said looking back at the house.

"I'm sorry for that, Jake. Really I am. I made your childhood hell, and that was a selfish thing for me to do."

"No, don't be. Geez, Em, without you I don't know what I would have done. You were my best friend. Still are."

She stood up and kissed him quickly. "Always will be."

"I want to show you something," Jake said as they sat down on the park bench under some apple trees.

"What?"

"I've been having some strange dreams again. I need help putting them together," He said handing her a small sketch book from his back pocket.

She flipped through the pictures of a little boy and a guy she didn't recognize. She saw a picture of a dark figure with a knife to Isabella's throat. She shivered. She saw Ray on the ground in a pool of blood. "Oh, God," she groaned, closing the book. She closed her eyes in despair.

"Keep looking," he prodded. Emily composed herself and flipped through the rest of the pictures of Trey and a little girl, looking happy at times and miserable in others.

"Besides, Trey do you know who anyone else is?" Emily asked, studying the picture of the figure with the knife to Isabella's throat. It had to be Max.

"No."

He looked up as his father approached them. "I'll see what I can do with it later," Emily said, sticking it in her pocket.

Raven's cell phone rang and she answered it with a smile as she saw the name on the screen. "Hi, Trey," She said and George raised an eyebrow as he watched her. She slapped his arm and walked past him.

"Oh, everything is fine. Jake's family is really nice," she said, petting Jake's golden retriever that quickly went to jump into George's lap as most animals did. She kept walking and went outside on the front porch.

"How's Isabella?" he asked softly.

"Isabella? Oh, she's fine too. Her and Ray are stuck like glue to each other," she said rolling her eyes, but wishing for the same for herself with Trey. "Everything okay with you?"

"Yes. I miss you."

She grinned and twirled a long curl around her finger. "I miss you too," she said blushing.

"Hey, girl," George said, petting Molly's head. She looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Yeah, I'm feeling down," George told her.

"I don't know. I'm feeling like I'm not a part of the group anymore, you know? I mean Emily's got Jake, Raven's got Trey, Ray's got Isabella. And well, Tony is Tony," he said. She licked his hand. "Well, I appreciate that, but I think I need to stick with my own species."

He heard a giggle from the hall. "Sorry," Sam said coming into the room. "I think she does have a crush on you though," Sam said, sitting on the couch next to him, and petted Molly's head.

"She likes you too."

"She better, I feed her, walk her!" Sam said looking into Molly's eyes with a smile.

"I've never seen her sit on anyone's lap before. You're not a lap dog, Mol!" Sam told her, shaking her collar.

"It's okay. I don't mind. I like animals."

"Me, too. I want to be a vet."

"That's cool. That's probably what I should have done."

"What is your major?" she asked, pulling her legs up under her to get more comfortable.

"Psychology."

Sam wrinkled her nose. "Psychology. I can understand why Jake would want to. But you don't seem like the psychologist type."

George smiled. "I'm not really."

"So, why are you doing it?"

"Good question."

"And the answer is?" She asked with a waiting smile.

"I don't know. To understand myself better."

"You think psychology courses are going to help you understand yourself better?"

George shrugged. "Something's got to help."

"No course is going to help you. You have to discover who you are yourself."

"How do you know?"

She shrugged. "Look at Jake. Four months ago he was miserable. Now, he has a group of friends, a girlfriend and a smile on his face. He's discovering who he is. It's great!" she said smiling.

George smiled back. He liked Sam. She was awfully cute. "Are you coming to UC, too?"

"I don't know. They do have a good vet program but I may stay closer to home. I haven't decided yet. Guess it will come down to where I get in."

"You graduate this summer, right?"

"Yeah. Can't wait."

"She'll be sad if you leave," George said, looking down at Molly seriously.

Sam smiled. "What are you reading her mind?"

"Yes."

Her smile faded. "You're like Jake then. You can see things?" she asked quietly.

"What do you know of Jake seeing things?"

"My parents, they never believed him. But I did. I do. I saw things happen that he said they would. It didn't scare me. I'm proud of him. He does what he can to prevent bad things from happening. He saved my life once. Did he tell you that?" she asked. George shook his head.

Sam leaned forward. "He had a dream that I was walking in the hayloft. I fell. I fell onto a pitch fork that was lying in the hay. And then the next day it happened. I fell. But Jake had run in just a second before. He knew where the fork was and he grabbed it out of the way before I hit," she said. She looked at George's expression which showed no surprise of her brother's foreseeing.

"What do you see when you read her mind?" Sam asked, gesturing to Molly.

"Molly wants that steak your mom's hiding in the back of the refrigerator," George said, leaning over to whisper it to her.

She laughed. "Can you really read her mind?" she asked softly. George nodded. "What about a horse?"

"Sure. Any animal," He answered seriously.

"Come with me," She said grabbing his hand.

"Maybe we should ask the others," Jake said as they walked back to the house.

"I don't know," Emily said not looking at him.

"Is there something up with Ray and Isabella?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just a feeling."

"I'm the one supposed to have feelings."

"Ray's been acting weird."

"Oh."

"Can it, Aurora. I know you know something. Why aren't you telling me?" he said.

"Not mine to tell."

"Is it bad?"

"I don't know yet," she said seriously. "I hope not. And I hope Trey can handle it like he says he can. I think Ray and Isabella are helping him however they can, but they haven't asked for my help yet."

"We need to tell the others."

"Tell them what, Jake?"

"My dreams. Your feelings. Whatever. Whatever Ray and Isabella are up to they shouldn't be doing it alone."

"I agree. But now is not the time."

"When is it?"

"When he feels he's ready."

"Who? Ray?" Jake asked. Emily looked at him. "Got it. Can't tell me," he said with a frustrated sigh.

"Can I at least show them the sketches? I mean, maybe it's not related."

"Let me think about it," she said, handing him back the book.

"Okay. Fine!"

"She hasn't been eating much," Sam said, stroking the white horse's long mane.

"She has an upset stomach," George said, touching her side and the horse whinnied at him.

"What else?"

"You know," George said accusingly.

"I know what?"

"This was a test," he said annoyed and hurt.

Sam held her ground. "What is her diagnosis, doctor?"

"She's pregnant," George answered. Sam smiled. "That was dirty," George said hurt.

"I just wanted to see."

"Well, there you go," he said feeding the horse a carrot.

"How did you know that I knew she was pregnant?"

"She told me," George said watching the eyes of the horse as she continued to eat the carrot he was holding.

"What else did she say?" Sam asked petting the horse's neck.

"That you pull her too quick on the third turn. You need to wait until you get to the...blue flower?" he said puzzled.

"Oh my god!" Sam said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"What blue flower?" he asked.

"There's a logo, at the rink where we compete. On the third turn, there is a picture of a blue flower. There's no way you could have known that."

"No," George said quietly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so weird-ed out about it. Jake does it to me all the time. I just...I guess I thought maybe you were kidding me at first."

"Do I scare you?"

She shook her head. He put his hand around the back of her neck and drew her to him in a sweet kiss. "You scare me," he said softly as he pulled away.

"It's nice here. Quiet," Isabella said as she and Ray walked along a wooded path.

"Too quiet for me," Ray said, putting an arm around her.

"I know. I keep expecting something to happen. For him to just show up and..." Isabella started.

Ray hushed her. "Don't think of that now. It's vacation time."

"If he does something to Trey..."

"He'll be fine! Now, I order you to stop thinking!" Ray said taking her by the shoulders.

"But Jake was playing a song my grandmother wrote. No one knows that song except me, Tony, Trey and Max. What if Max was sending a warning?"

"Then we'll deal with it when the time comes. Trey told you to stop worrying. He said enjoy life for awhile. Can you try? Please?"

"Alright, I'll try. For you," she said kissing him.

"For you," he answered, looking into her eyes.

"For me too," she answered, touching his cheek gently.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top