Visions: The Mystical Encounter Series (The Mystical Encounter Series Book 1) Read online

  My body jerked as I flashed to Johnny sitting all alone in a room, unable to move. I could sense his body aching when he realized his arms and legs were tied up. Breathe…‌I could hardly breathe. Something seemed to be restricting my air flow. I realized a gag had been placed in his mouth as he struggled to work it loose.

  A strong volt of energy zapped straight through my heart, causing my pulse to spike. Panic set in. As he desperately scanned the room, four dingy plain walls were all that he visualized. They clearly offered no sign of escape. There wasn’t one distinguishing feature to the room, except the single doorway. Coldness overcame my body as I realized it must be a basement. Johnny, having worked his gag loose, began to cry. Through the sobs I could barely make out the words “I want my mommy.”

  Johnny’s head snapped toward the creaking sound of a door opening slowly. My vision started to cloud making it impossible to see the guy coming toward him. He’s there. I could sense his presence, but I couldn’t see him clearly. My heart sank, knowing Johnny’s tears were clouding my vision. Something flashed, catching my eye. It took a second to figure out it’s a reflection from something shiny in his hand. My throat swelled shut. I needed to breathe, but I couldn’t. He stepped closer. As his hands rose, I realized the shine reflected off a…

  I inhaled sharply, gasping for air, as I snapped back to the present.

  “Heather…‌Heather…‌It’s all right. Look at me.” A frantic voice shouted out.

  I turned toward the voice calling my name, but it took a minute to focus as the fear slowly subsided. Too afraid to speak, I waited for my heart rate to slow while I tried evening out my breathing.

  “Are you okay?” Barry asked apprehensively. His eyes were filled with nothing but concern as he gazed deeply into mine.

  I wasn’t sure why, but I hated seeing the worried expression on his face. It wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be burdened with my troubles. He shouldn’t even be a part of this. He should be doing what most seventeen–year–old boys do and smiling his special smile that makes me pause. That was what I wanted for him, but if I was honest, I really wanted him not to be afraid of me. Slowly, I nodded my head. “Just give me a second,” I said weakly.

  He sat patiently next to me with his hand on the small of my back, waiting for my breathing to return to normal. When I found my voice, I screeched, “Barry, he knew his killer. It wasn’t a stranger it was some guy who…” I remembered Johnny eyeing the house next door. I wondered if that was where the killer lived. It wouldn’t be right to accuse anyone without more to go on, but it still made me wonder. “Who he recognized. He was playing in the backyard, with this toy, when the guy approached him and lured him into the woods.”

  “He killed him in the woods? You think he’s buried there?”

  “Maybe, but he didn’t kill him out there. He bound him up to a chair and held him in a room without any windows. It was cold, like a basement. The walls were dingy. That’s where…” I paused because the strained expression upon Barry’s face told me he couldn’t process any more information.

  I had forgotten that he had been close to Johnny and realized I had thrown out too many random details. I needed to rein it in. Not thinking about the impact my words would have toward his feelings, I silently cursed myself for being too insensitive.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t have to continue if you’d like me to stop,” I apologized.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, he said, “No…‌go on. It's painful to hear, but it’s the only way to find what happened to him.”

  With a slight hesitation, I decided to leave out the gorier details. I’d let those images haunt me instead. “The guy killed him in that room. I believe the room was in the basement of the killer’s house. I also believe the house isn’t too far away, that it’s accessible by these woods.”

  Glancing out my window, toward the house next door, I wondered if I should say something. Honestly, I didn’t know if he was killed in that particular house, but I couldn’t shake off the sensation that it was somehow involved.

  “You think the killer lives on this street?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know which house?”

  I answered cautiously. “Not exactly.” I needed to make a decision quickly—‌tell him or not. If I kept quiet, and it turned out that was the place, then I’d never forgive myself. If I did tell him and that house had no specific role in his disappearance, then really what harm becomes of it anyway? Hard feelings from my next door neighbor I never talk to? I could handle that. I decided to tread the waters gently. “I have a suspicion, but I don’t know for sure. When Johnny’s killer lured him away, he did something. Which I hate to say since it’s based on an assumption.”

  “What did he do?”

  “The moment he recognized his killer, he glanced over at the house next door. I have a feeling it meant something, but that’s all I have…‌a feeling. By not seeing him enter that house, I don’t have any real proof. The one thing I have to go by was the murderer has dark hair with brown eyes, which I learned from my first vision. The guy I see coming out of that house,” I pointed over to my neighbor’s house. “Has grayish hair now. Was he living there ten years ago?”

  “Mr. Barton?” Barry asked, wrinkling his nose in confusion. As he paused, I sat there quietly waiting for him to process the information.

  “I wouldn’t have suspected him. I always thought he was a bit odd, but not a cold–blooded killer. He was relatively new to the area when it happened, but he helped with the search party when they went out searching for Johnny in the woods. He came up to me one afternoon and told me not to be afraid; they would probably find him soon. Surely he wouldn’t be behind it.”

  Pain, mixed with shock, dispersed across Barry’s face making it difficult to process. I hated accusing that Barton guy of a heinous crime, but I just couldn’t shake off the skepticism coming from that house.

  With an attempt to ease Barry’s mind somewhat, I offered, “Maybe he isn’t behind it. Like I said, I have nothing solid.” My eyes narrowed as I glared at his house, adding, “I just wish there was some way of getting inside there.”

  ~8~

  Betrayal

  “I’m glad we have a chance to talk,” Barry’s friend, Nicole, said as we sat down at the cafeteria table. Our class ended a few minutes early which meant we had time before everyone else showed up for lunch. I had already gone through the lunch line, while she staked out our usual spot. With an eyebrow raised, I held my breath as she continued, “It’s important to go to the police.”

  The surrounding acoustic level dropped about thirty decibels as the blood drained from my body in hesitation of her next words.

  “Because they could help find what happened to Johnny,” she continued with a hushed undertone.

  The word Johnny whispered out of her mouth confirmed my fear and betrayal. It felt like a dagger thrust into my back. Shocked beyond words, I didn’t know whether to be angry or hurt. How could he do this to me? What was he thinking? What was I? I knew better than to trust anyone other than myself. What a fool I was for putting my faith in him only to have it thrown in my face. A complete fool. I just got used to the idea of having somebody trustworthy in my life. Someone that was dependable, but now…‌I should have known better. In real life those people didn’t exist. The balance between friendship and trust I craved was nothing but a pipe dream. Truth, reality bites. Everyone was self–centered and pushed along their self–agenda. Yeah, I was leaning more toward anger right now.

  “Oh…‌Don’t worry,” Nicole quickly added, realizing by my expression that I was anything but pleased. As much as I tried remaining as stoic as possible, the anger must have shown because she suddenly became nervous. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone because Barry warned you wouldn’t want people knowing yet. What you can do is incredible, believe me, and I do hope you’ll be able to find out what happened to Johnny. I just think you should get the police involved.”

  It took all of my willpo
wer to sit there and listen to her ramble on about the police and Johnny. I wanted to get up and walk away, but in her defense, the fault wasn’t hers. No…‌the fault belonged to Barry. I bit my bottom lip to prevent blurting out words that I might regret later and let her ramble. When I had enough, I replied very slow and very precise, “We can’t involve the police until there’s more to go on. Right now I don’t have enough adequate information to contribute anything useful.”

  “But…”

  “Besides,” I rudely interrupted, not caring in the least what she was about to say. “It’s hard convincing them about what I can do. First, they have to halfway believe in clairvoyance before they’ll listen. It isn’t easy.”

  “We can get them to listen. My uncle was lead detective on Johnny’s case. He’ll understand, I’m sure of it,” she replied rather suddenly. My anger wavered at the enthusiasm embodying her voice. But then she lowered her gaze as her face fell. In a voice just above a whisper, she added, “Just promise me when the time is right, you’ll go. I hope Johnny’s disappearance can be solved, but what I really want is his murderer behind bars.” Her eyes began to glisten making me wonder what her connection to him had been. Obviously she must have been close to him, which I guessed was the reason Barry told her.

  With my anger subsiding towards Nicole, I softened my tone, replying, “I’d like that, too.”

  A gentle smile broke across her lips as she blinked away her tears. At that moment, Caleb joined us while dropping his tray down beside me.

  “What’s with you?” he asked, directing his question toward Nicole.

  “Nothing…‌We’re just having a heart–to–heart discussion. You know, girl stuff,” she replied with a half–smile, composing herself rather quickly. As she straightened in her seat, she un–wrapped her sandwich as if we hadn’t just had one of the most intense conversations of my life.

  “Women.” He shook his head as Barry and couple more friends piled in around us. “I’ll never understand them.”

  When Barry smiled as he sat down across from me, I somehow managed a weak smile back, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes. Still upset, I didn’t want to be anywhere close to him. With my gaze dropping down to my lunch, I studied it as if it was the most intriguing macaroni and cheese I’d ever seen. Though my appetite disappeared, I didn’t want to chance him noticing my expression. It would take him one minute to figure out how upset I was. Not wanting to risk him asking in front of everyone, I sat there toying with my food. I was miserable, knowing the bonds of trust between us were shattered, and I would never consider him trustworthy. It was a horrible resolution. I knew he’d hurt me one day, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.

  As the group’s discussion turned to last night’s baseball game on television, I tuned everyone out. It was a habit to which I was accustomed, making it easy for me to fall back into my old tendencies.

  What clouded my mind was the fact another person besides Barry knew about my abilities. It was pretty naive of me to believe nobody would find out. I mean, eventually it would come out. It’s just…‌I wasn’t ready for anyone to be aware yet. I certainly didn’t expect Barry to go blab the first chance he got, either. I thought he understood my need for secrecy.

  His betrayal upset me the most. Having somebody else know my secret was painful enough, but telling Nicole behind my back, that hurt. Not only was the knife plunged deep into my back, but as the seconds passed, he slowly twisted the handle, sinking it deeper. Sitting across from him was torturous.

  All through lunch, the minutes ticked excruciatingly slow. I was pretty sure Barry kept glancing my way because the weight of his stare descended upon me heavily. I refused to give him any interaction as I blocked him, and everyone else, out. The need to escape was almost overwhelming. I wanted to run as far away as possible and be alone. At least when I was by myself, nobody could hurt me. Debating whether I should leave that instant or remain seated, I decided to stay. Leaving now would cause people to ask questions I didn’t want to answer yet. So I sat there, feeling numb, while waiting for the bell to release me from my private hell.

  After a grueling twenty minutes, lunch ended. I let out the breath I seemed to be holding as everyone started leaving. Nicole rose, and I noticed her slight hesitation before she made the correct choice and left. With no attempt to acknowledge her existence, I remained seated as she scurried off. But I wasn’t alone. Barry didn’t make an effort to move, either. As soon as everyone was out of hearing range, he leaned across the table and asked, “Are you mad at me?”

  Extremely, I wanted to shout. Still not willing to glance his way, I stared at my uneaten lunch. As calmly as possible, I said, “I’m fine.”

  “Heather, don’t play games with me. Something’s bothering you, I can tell.”

  My eyes snapped up, boring directly into his as my voice came across icier than intended. “I have to get to class.”

  As I started to walk away, he raced to the end of the table grabbing my arm and said, “Heather…‌ Wait.”

  I halted, turned my head toward him, and just glared. He dropped his hand quickly, as an understanding crossed his face before stating, “Nicole said something to you, didn’t she?”

  “How could you tell her?” I whispered.

  “Heather, I…”

  “Save it.” I put my hands out to stop him from coming closer. “This is my fault. I should have known better.” Pausing for a second, I shook my head then smirked. “I’m such an idiot. You know, I started believing you were different…‌that you understood where I came from. But it’s a joke with me being the punch line. Well, I guess I was wrong about you after all. You’re just like everyone else I’ve ever known‌—‌a huge disappointment.”

  As those words hung in the air, I turned and briskly walked away, trying to will away the image of his hurt stunned expression out of my head. It took all of my willpower to keep from running; I wanted to get away so bad. Without any detours, I headed straight toward my locker.

  A little dazed, I stood in front of my locker, unable to open it. What the hell’s wrong with me? I’d memorized the combination my first day here, but my fingers kept fumbling with the dial, messing it up. I needed to calm down. The background noise buzzed around me, replacing the normal banter that usually filled the hallways. When number thirty–five rolled into position, clicking the lock open, I gathered my belongings in a rush before heading to my car. Home was my only option because attending my afternoon classes wasn’t happening. I was far too upset to even attempt to retain anything.

  Upon reaching the car, I tossed my bag aside, slid behind the driver seat, and slammed my hands down on top of the steering wheel. With my eyes closed, I leaned my head backwards against the headrest and wondered why. Why did he tell somebody, and why did he do it right when I finally started trusting him? Why couldn’t he at least have warned me first?

  After a couple of minutes of sitting there, I tried to make sense of what just happened, but being that outraged, I couldn’t think clearly. My mind was hazed over as if a thick fog filled my head where my brain once occupied. After a few minutes, when my mind became clearer, the anger faded. When I thought about how I treated Barry, I was embarrassed. After all he’d done for me, I couldn’t believe I accused him of being like everyone else back in Clayton‌—‌or worse yet, calling him a disappointment. He didn’t even come close to acting like them. Although he was wrong to tell Nicole about my ability, it wasn’t fair of me to treat him that harshly. I guess being on my own for this long made me forget how to treat people. I don’t know.

  Disgusted and embarrassed with myself, I went home. The front curtain moved as I pulled into the driveway, reminding me that Mom was there. I totally forgot about her not working today. How did I forget since I borrowed her car? Shifting the gear into park, an audible groan escaped my mouth. Dealing with her was the last thing I wanted to endure. As I stepped out, I thought I’d better face her now and get it over.

  “Wha
t are you doing home so early?” she asked as I walked through the door.

  Before walking up to the house, I debated whether to make up an excuse, but I decided to tell the truth since she’d find out anyway. Besides, I wasn’t in the mood to fabricate a story. After explaining to Mom about Barry, Nicole, and the way I handled it, the sympathy she expressed was more than I could bear. Although she drives me crazy, I hated being the reason behind her pain, and I kept doing it over and over.

  “Sweetie,” Mom stated as delicately as possible. “After all you’ve been through; I understand why you would be so guarded. It hasn’t been easy for you, but ask yourself if you were fair to Barry.” I groaned as she continued. “I agree, he shouldn’t have told her without letting you know first, but, sweetie, he hasn’t alienated you like every other person we’ve known. I’m sure he had his reasons. You need to at least listen to him, you owe him that much.”

  “I know you’re right, Mom. Ugh! I probably blew any chance of having a real friendship,” I yelled while throwing my hands up in the air.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I have a feeling he’ll be back around, so don’t worry too much about it. Okay?”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I turned and headed toward my room.

  Once nestled on top of my bed, I contemplated about what I was going to say to Barry the next time I saw him. Although part of me felt he should see things my way, I needed to apologize. I just wasn’t quite sure how. As I closed my eyes, I feared tomorrow would come all too soon.

  ~9~

  Appearances

  The chimes of the doorbell rang throughout the house, pulling me from my slumber. Having had dozed off, it took a moment to wake up. After a few seconds I remembered coming home early because of an argument with Barry. Dread started to creep in as I wondered how badly I messed things up between us. When my eyes focused on the red digital numbers displayed on the alarm clock, I sat straight up as my brain registered the time. Not being able to contain the smile breaking across my face, I realized Barry must be here. School had let out twenty minutes ago, leaving no doubt in my mind who was here. Nobody else but Barry dared to visit.