Insight (24 page)

“Willow wouldn’t be the person she is without having the friends she had in Infante, and they wouldn’t be the people they are without her. Even though Monica’s life was short, I don’t think she left this world with any regrets.”

My mother looked up at my father and smiled. “She had such a vibrant energy around her. I can still feel it when I remember her,” she said quietly.

“Then she lives on through you, through everyone she ever knew,” he said, kissing her forehead.

I stepped closer and knelt down in front of my mother. Placing my hand on her knee, I remembered every happy memory I could from my childhood; the impact my mother had not only on me, but on each of my friends, too. The rush swept through me again, and I closed my eyes, taking in the pure bliss I felt as I helped my mother. Her emotion moved to the bliss I was feeling. I opened my eyes to see her smiling. I could feel her soul come to life again. I stood slowly and looked at Landen.

“Do you want to check on Libby?
” I thought. Landen smiled, took my hand, and led me to the staircase that was in front of the door.

I could sense Libby sleeping peacefully. At the top of the stairs, we opened the first door to the left. It was a very large room with high ceilings. The far wall of her room had a large bay window, and baby dolls and books lined the windowsill. It was a room made for the princess that she was. When we both walked to her bed to sneak a peek at her sleeping face, her eyelids fluttered open softly, a smile spread across her baby face, and she whispered, “Willow, is it time to get up?”

Being seen by her sent a surge of shock through the two of us. Our eyes flew open, and we were back in the beach house. Catching our breath, we sat up with a start. When we realized what we’d done, laughter exploded from the two of us. We’d managed to control where we went. I was able to help our family, and we made it home within the blink of an eye.

We allowed our bodies to drift back to sleep, and our souls walked along the beach through the sunrise.

The peaceful feeling of another person and the sound of the wood creaking on the front porch of the beach house brought us both back to our sleeping bodies. Landen jumped up and tiptoed toward the front of the house. He then looked back at me.
“Rose,”
he thought. I nodded in agreement.

Landen pulled the front door open, expecting to see Rose, but instead he found a large basket sitting on the floor of the porch. He brought it into the house and set it on the coffee table in the front room. A note was attached to the top of the basket that said:

I thought you two would need a few things. Take your time. Love you.

In the basket under a blanket was a new sketchbook and food, along with a change of clothes.

“How did she know where we were?”
I asked.

Landen smiled at himself as he read the note again.
“This is her place. Sometimes trying to understand the intent around me can be difficult. Rose and August brought me here when I was fourteen and told me that whenever I needed peace, I could come here.”

We settled on the floor, making a picnic out of the fruit and muffins that Rose had brought.

“I could feel Rose differently just now,” he said, looking at me. “I felt her emotion of peace.”

I looked at him with wide eyes.

“Did you feel her differently?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I knew she didn’t want to disturb us, but I just took that as my own insight.”

“That’s how my gift feels. You just know what they want to do,” he said, smiling at me as his eyes drifted to my lips for an instant.

“How are they merging?” I asked, bewildered.

“I don’t know. I didn’t feel any emotion until you touched my dad last night,” he answered.

“Can we look for images today? For my friends?” I asked, rising to my knees.

“If we find them, we need to come back and get Brady and the others,” Landen said, standing.

I stood and began to pull out the clothes in the basket. Rose had packed the traditional travel clothes for Landen—black pants and a black T- shirt. For me, a solid black dress with wide straps. I looked at Landen and shook my head. I wasn’t sure how much I cared for always wearing black. He laughed at my expression. I then sighed and began to change into the dress. It felt soft against my skin, and it fell just above my knees. I pulled my necklace out and looked down at the sun and moon again, wondering for a moment about all it had witnessed.

The string was very calm when we entered it and the current was relaxing as it immersed us. We walked by the passages of our world and saw that several others were in the string. Smiling faces and pleasant greetings were given as we ushered by. It was clear that Landen didn’t even know most of them by name. Each of them had the most amazing eyes in the string. It was as if you could see the soul within them. Everyone was calm, peaceful, and all the couples had a deep love for one another.

The string became empty as other passages came into view, and I felt myself growing nervous. Landen glanced down at me. “The string is calm today. We should be safe,” he said, assuring me.

I smiled, appreciating that he could now sense my emotion.

I stopped walking. I could feel something, a terror so powerful that it took my breath away. It was coming from Landen, too, but it didn’t belong to him. Landen looked forward, then back. After a moment of indecision, we walked back to where we’d just been.

“You could feel that, couldn’t you?” I asked.

“I want to get Brady and the others. I’m not sure if that’s coming from in the string or around it.”

“How far are we from Esterious?”

“Only a few passages,” Landen said, guiding me back to Chara.

“It could be them,” I said, fearing that they were now suffering.

“I know,” he whispered, pulling me closer to him.

After reaching our dimension, we walked back to our house and Landen went to the kitchen to call Brady while I waited impatiently on the front porch for help to arrive.

Moments later, two Jeeps pulled up in front of the house. Brady was in one with Marc. Chrispin was driving the other one with Dane and Clarissa. I was surprised that Clarissa had come, but then I remembered that Landen had said that even the women were fierce explorers, and Dane could see in the string. I climbed into the back seat of Brady’s Jeep with Landen, then both Jeeps sped across the open field to the windmill.

Just before we entered, Landen told Brady that he would lead. He wanted Brady to bring up the tail and Marc and Chrispin to flank the sides, and he wanted Dane and me in the center with Clarissa. Brady argued with Landen, but he ultimately lost the argument. The others agreed that it didn’t matter where we stood. Being in the string was risky, no matter where you were.

Our group weaved through the others making their way to the celebration. As we walked in silence, Landen would glance back at me, checking my expression. We’d already passed the point where we’d felt the fear earlier, but the tension was growing among the others. I had a feeling we were almost to Esterious. The hum of the current flowed more aggressively, then reached an annoying high pitch. Landen stopped, and everyone stared at him, waiting for him to lead.

“Do you feel that?”
asked Landen.

“No,”
I answered, now concentrating on his emotion.

I walked closer to him, and through him I felt the fear again. When I reached his side, I felt it firsthand.

“I do now,”
I thought.

“Do you recognize them?”
he asked.

“The fear is too strong for me to tell you for sure. There are three. If he’s with them, I wouldn’t know,”
I thought, reminding him that I couldn’t feel Drake.

Landen motioned for the others to come closer, and in a hushed voice he told them that if Drake were there, I wouldn’t be able to tell them. Brady didn’t even try to argue with Landen. He just stepped forward and led the rest of us. Landen squeezed my hand as we walked. The current was getting harder to navigate through.

“He’s here,”
thought Landen.

He reached out to stop Brady from walking any further. In cat-like fashion, we took a few steps back then slid through a purple haze. Passing into this dimension, we were close to another waterfall. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Victoria Falls, but the beauty was still breathtaking. Confusion was coming from everyone as they watched. Landen paced, then stopped and checked himself to make sure he was confident before he spoke.

“Drake is just a few feet away from here. This is a trap. He has someone with him, more than one, several, actually, and they’re expecting conflict.”

It wasn’t fear that rushed through everyone, it was anger. Landen and Brady seemed to be the most powerful of all of them, but Clarissa was the first one to speak with any kind of reason. “We have to use caution here. Charging them is not the answer,” she said, raising her hands.

I was grateful that she had spoken up, but if Landen felt what I felt, he wasn’t going to leave without those girls. They had passed fear and were closer to horror.

“What if I passed through the string? He doesn’t know me. I could get a better understanding of what’s going on in there,” said Clarissa.

After an onslaught of arguments erupted from everyone, they finally calmed down. Brady convinced Clarissa that it didn’t matter who went Drake would take us, and we’d definitely come after one of our own.

As they continued to discuss a way of getting the three girls, I ventured out, looking at the waterfall and the tall overhanging trees. There was thunder in the distance, and you could feel the humidity in the air. Sweat drenched my dress, and my eyes were misty.

All at once, I felt the horror again. I looked back quickly to see if the others were in danger. I’d managed to walk almost fifty feet away from them. They were still discussing options. Their mood was tense, but no horror was with them. A look of confusion was covering my face as I looked back to them, then forward again. I took a few more brave steps toward the worst emotion I’d ever felt. The trees covered the gray sky, giving the illusion of darkness. The branches swayed with the wind, causing a light whistle and drying the sweat on my face. No animals could be seen, and the forest looked as if it had been abandoned.

When I looked back at the others again, Landen was staring at me, no longer listening as everyone pleaded their case to him at once.

“What is it? Do you see something?”
he asked.

“I feel something, this way,”
I responded,
pointing to the forest.

Landen pushed through the others and made his way to me. As he got closer, I could feel it through him, too.

“I bet there’s an image in there,”
I thought, looking into the dense darkness.

The others came to where we were. Landen glanced back and firmly told them, “Guard your emotions.” Then, looking squarely at Marc, he said, “And your intent.”

We made our way into the forest. We could hear the sound of rain on the canopy of leaves that shielded the ground. When the darkness was all around us, three figures came into my view—Hannah, Olivia, and Jessica. They were all dressed in white gowns, and their hair was up and decorated with jewels. Lines of mascara streaked down each of their faces. They trembled as they gripped each other. Hannah was the only one not screaming. It was hard not to rush in to touch them, to help them.

“I found them,” I said, swallowing hard and feeling the nauseating sensation of guilt overcome me.

I felt Landen's arm go around me.
“This is not our fault,”
he thought softly. I nodded and fought back the hopeless emotion that threatened to overtake me.

The others stared into the darkness, trying to see what I saw.

“How is this going to work? I mean, if they’re in the string, won’t Willow pass by them?” asked Chrispin bravely.

“I don’t think they’re in the string. I can feel the intent of several people,” Landen answered, looking at all of them.

“Can you see around them?” Clarissa asked calmly.

“Not until I touch them,” I said, staring at the three of them yearning to help.

“Regardless, she has to touch them, at least one of them. Two of us can grab the others,” Landen said. “We’re not going to have time to lead them. They’re going to have to be carried.”

“To where?” Marc asked.

“We can’t take them to their home, not in this condition. Jason is going to need to look them over,” Landen said with a bit of disdain in his voice. He was furious at Drake and whoever had helped him hurt my friends.

“So who wants to go with us? We need two of you.” No indecision came from any of them. They all stepped forward, even Dane. Seeing their eagerness, Landen made the decision for them.

“Okay. Brady and Dane, flank me and Willow. When we’re back here, Chrispin, you grab the girl Willow is holding. Clarissa, Marc, you lead us back to the string. Dane and Willow are the only ones that need to talk. If they struggle, we’ll never make it back to Chara,” Landen finished.

A serious mood came over us all. Everyone seemed to be very clear on their roles. I knew I’d have to calm these girls as much as possible before the others carried them. I circled around so their backs were to me, trying not to worry about what had captured their attention.