Dreams or Reality?

Chapter 22: Body In The River

Ok, I know I'm evil for the cliff-hanger, I know I haven't updated for a few days, Doesn't matter, the phone call will be revealed in this chapter, so stop screaming. (Jess) Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 22: Body In The River

"Faye?" Demetri asked. The moment he had seen the look on my face he had gotten up and crossed the tiny room to get to me. He was looking at me cautiously, as if I might randomly hit him. "Faye, who was it?"

"I-I don't know. I'm fine, it-it was a joke, must've been." I felt a little weird and the words felt like a lie, even to me.

"What did they say?" I didn't answer Demetri, I just looked at the phone in my hand. Carefully, Demetri took it away from me. I vaguely registered the anger burning in his eyes but I felt too numb to do or say anything. My legs felt like jell-o and I would've collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap but Demetri scooped me up against him just as my legs started to give way.

Demetri lay me down on the floor and sat next to me, watching me closely as he clicked the redial button on my cell. Twenty seconds later Demetri swore viciously and clicked the end button on the phone. I took that to mean redialing hadn't worked. Demetri got up and put my phone in the pocket of my leather jacket, still sitting on the hook. He came back and sat next to me, I could practically see the anger rolling off of him.

That was when my head snapped back all by itself and my vision clouded over, turning dark. When it cleared, I was no longer sitting next to Demetri on the floor of the wooden room.

I was standing in a meadow. It was strangely large. Far away I could see a forest. On my left side, a body of water, lake, ocean or sea, didn't matter, pressed in creating a stretch of beach that wasn't a gentle decline, it was a rather abrupt one. All the colors were unusual blues in the water and strange greens in the trees and grass. The sky was almost the color of sand. I realized I was the ghost I was in the nightmare of myself on a cliff.

I looked around me for my body, just in case, but didn't see it. I started walking towards the trees in the distance. Maybe walking isn't the right word because I was taking steps but I was floating, never touching the ground. Somehow I ended up at the beach. I don't know how long I had walked but I was barely close enough to make out the individual trees. I seemed to actually walk in the sand but I didn't leave footprints in the overly-sloped sand.

I stopped suddenly. There was a body in front of me. A girl. That was the first thing I realized. She was lying mostly in the water, waves were soaking her shirt. Something about her wasn't right but I couldn't put my finger on it. Her hair spread out around her in a fan. It was a dark blond but anybody would say it was blond immediately. I bent down trying to get a better look at her face.

Katrina.

A few things in my brain clicked all at once. Her hair was a little darker then usual. No make-up on her face. The last gear clicked. Her eyes were glassy, she was dead.

Katrina.

My baby sister, Katrina.

Dead bodies have this look about them that separates them from sleeping or unconscious bodies. I don't know what it is that's different. Maybe they're just not moving, not even the rise and fall of their chests that indicates breath and some part of us realizes that and says 'yup, that's a dead body.' Whatever the reason, you can tell a dead body from a living one. I knew my sister was dead.

The tears started to roll steadily down my cheeks. "Katrina," I whispered. "Katrina. No, why? Katrina." I just kept repeating it, the sobs not stopping. I hadn't ever been close to my baby sister but there was so many things I wanted to say to her, to apologize for. I guess when someone dies you realize all the things you should've done.

The song "You Don't Know What You've Got 'Till It's Gone' popped into my mind. I swallowed the bitter little laugh that went along with that thought, instead letting the tears fall and whispering what I wished I'd gotten to say to her.

I looked at her glassy eyes. If I was the heroine in a book or movie I would close my sister's eyes so she'd look peaceful. I couldn't bring myself to touch her. I don't know what kind of person that makes me or what that says about me but I didn't want to touch a dead body. A swell of hysteria erupted inside me as I realized, I couldn't. I was an insubstantial ghost.

A thought raced through my mind. This isn't real. My sister isn't dead. The only problem is getting out of here. Out of nowhere I heard a voice. It was a female voice, familiar too. The voice from the phone call "Figured it out?" I whipped my head around, searching for the girl who was speaking. "This and so much worse can and will happen. It's all up to you."

Before I could answer, with a rather rude remark mind you, the scene shattered. I was lying on the floor again, in the tiny room with Demetri and- Anna? When'd she get here? It didn't matter. My face was wet and when I reached a hand up to it I realized it was because I must've been crying in reality as well as the dream/vision/whatever you want to call it.

Both siblings were looking at me intently. "Take a picture, it'l last longer." funny how my sarcasm is the first thing that comes back to me. Demetri let out a laugh that, judging by the sound of it, was more relieved then anything else.

"When your head snapped back and your eyes glowed green I was a little worried, seems I shouldn't have been." My eyes had glowed green? That was news. Anna was looking at me and frowning slightly. I took a breath and told them what happened in my dream as best I could. Anna's frown deepened.

"Whoever this person is, they have a strong connection to you." Anna said, looking very curious.

"Screw the connection." Demetri said, causing me to look at him in alarm. "I'm more worried about who this is. What did the voice sound like? What did they say on the phone?"

"Female, snide, really familiar but I couldn't place it." I said without hesitating.

"What did they say on the phone?" he repeated carefully. I sighed.

"Friends, family, a lot to lose. Lives are riding on your actions." I tried my best to mimic the voice. "I thought it was a joke, but now I'm not so sure."

"You never thought it was a joke, not with the reaction you had." Demetri said.

"They sounded pretty damn serious. Besides, what would they have to gain by lying?" I responded.

"Look," my attention shifted to Anna as she spoke. "whoever it is, isn't going to strike right away. Demetri and I will look out for any magic that seems to be tailing you, try to figure out who it is. You need to be trained, learn how to use your magic. It won't be easy to train you with Serquin keeping such a close eye on you but we'll try, you can't face him defenseless as you are."

"Train?" I asked.

"How else do you expect to learn how to work your magic?" Demetri said, a shadow of a smile played on his lips. I glanced at my watch. I was vaguely surprised to see that it was 11:27. Guess it makes sense. It was around eight when I tripped over the tree root. twenty minutes to come around. I spent some time with Anna and Demetri, took about two hours to learn all that history. That's almost to ten thirty. Spent that time alone with Demetri, the mark on my wrist, my tattoo, the kiss. That was probably another half hour. My vision probably took another fifteen minutes. that leaves twelve unaccounted for minutes. I was rounding numbers here, I can see how it got so late.

Demetri ran a hand through his hair. "You should go home, rest." Anna said, she seemed to be reading my thoughts and with all the magic I learned about, I wouldn't put it past her. Demetri waved his hand, creating a doorway for me. Through it, I could see my bedroom. I grabbed my jacket and looked at the siblings. Anna's bandage was already almost completely red, only the ends were still white.

I walked through the doorway into my room. I turned around to say goodbye or thanks, I hadn't made up my mind yet, but the doorway had already shut, I was alone.

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Corny ending, I know. What did you think of the call? Who is the voice, why is it familiar? Leaving you a lot to think about, I'll try to update soon!!! Comment, vote, keep reading! Thanks for reading guys!

-Jodi