Norman and I both looked over at my grandmother. While her emotions were closed off to me, I could see the pain crinkling around the edges of her eyes and also the sadness shining. "Dear heavens," she whispered.I was out of my chair in a blink of an eye and strolled over to her side being mindful of the broken pieces of porcelain all over the floor. "Grandma." Without hesitation, I placed my hand on her shoulder gently to comfort her.The second my hand landed on her shoulder, I became overwhelmed with intense emotions ranging first from excited and anxious to scared and terror. From within the whiteness, I could hear distant voices but they were too muffled to make sense of.Before it could go any further, something or someone shoved back. Instinct took over and I went to catch myself only I was so dizzy that my vision blurred and I slipped or tripped and landed heavily on the floor. I vaguely registered pain radiating from my hand, but I was too focused on getting my breathing und
As soon as my eyelids fluttered open briefly, a blurry humanoid person was looming over me with their nimble fingers cascading through my black locks. I didn't need perfect vision to know exactly who this was. The glob of orange and the scent of salt water was pretty much a giveaway not to mention the peaceful emotions."Hayden?" I asked, but my voice came out a bit hoarse and dry."Sh. Don't talk. Just rest," he said. "Save your strength."With a groan, I turned over. My cheek bumped against something broad. The fabric felt like a pair of jeans. Before I could say anything, my eyes started sliding shut on their own accord and I instantly fell back into darkness.The second time I woke, after finding my glasses on top of my head and putting them on, I was surprised to discover that I was in my bedroom.At first, I was confused. I mean, how did I get here? The last thing I remembered was being with Mel outside of the museum and touching the gooey substance that came out of the muffin.
As soon as I got outside, I called Norman on my phone. Unfortunately, it went to voicemail. As soon as the beep happened, I said, "Norman, listen, I don't know if you heard anything, but Jennifer is dead. Listen, though, I need you to find anything you can about her as well as any research on a photo I'm going to send to you. I'm heading to see Mr. Newman to see if I can get some answers. Please call me back when you know something." As soon as I ended the call, I sent him the picture in a text message and then got inside my Jeep.As soon I was behind the wheel, the passenger door opened, and in came Angela, who seemed different. She was in a short black dress and black heels and her eyes were an unusual bright green. Her emotions seemed off like there was darkness oozing out of her."Uh, Angela, what are you doing in my vehicle?"Angela looked at me with such wide eyes I could have sworn they would pop out of her head. "Oh. Well, I'm hiding.""Hiding from who? My cousin?""Yes!""Why
After spending time with Norman, I headed to work. As usual, Melinda wasn't pleased by my lateness. However, like always, she joked about docking my pay. Tommy, who was still new, kept going out on errands for Melinda which surprised me.While I was on my break, I pulled the file that Norman loaned me out of my messenger bag and placed it on the counter, and leaned over. Studying it didn't help anything. The men were all different. Their ages were different, too. Their race was also different. It didn't matter. Aside from them having the pattern of initials, nothing else stood out. So, then, what was this woman doing with these men?"What are you looking at so intently?" asked Melinda."Just some research.""Does it have to do with the mysterious deaths?"I nodded. "I shouldn't be involved in this, but there is something off about this whole mess. I know I am missing something. My gut tells me that. And whoever the woman is behind all of this seems to be going after men only."Melinda
Dreaming. I was dreaming. I knew because I was laying on the blanket with Hayden and holding his hand as we watched the stars together.And then it ended when I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, but the bed under me felt off and the room seemed different even if I couldn't see properly.I leaned over to get my glasses only for my hand to slide through the air and cause me to tumble out of bed. Instead of hitting a hardwood floor, there was carpet under me. What was going on?Something told me I wasn't at home. I was somewhere else. But where?I tried to wrap my head around what happened. I remembered being with Norman and following Mr. Newman and then something to do with ghosts or something like that.Suddenly, I could hear loud voices. It sounded like yelling. I got up and used the wall since without my glasses I was blind. Feeling a cold knob, I leaned against the door.I didn't mean to eavesdrop on a conversation between Norman and his dad, but I wants to find out what
When I got to the building, a sense of nostalgia overcame me. I did miss this place a bit. I think I even missed my mom. I wish she would call or something that way I knew she was okay. But it was hopeless. I was, after all, a disappointment. As I walked in, a black-and-white photo from the 1960s caught my attention. I was shocked to see that it was the same people I had seen on the elevator on my birthday. The young man with the little girl and the woman, but there was no elderly woman."Ah, I see you're fascinated with that photo.""Who are they?""The man used to be a big-time businessman with his four-year-old beautiful girl. And that woman, well, she was really popular. She was a movie star.""I see." I turned and found Jessica holding a box. "Is that mine?""Oh. Yes." She handed it to me and smiled. "We miss you around here, Weston.""I'm... I miss it here a little as well. But it is what it is.""True. I hope to see you around at least.""I'll try." After walking back out to my
I headed towards town. I should have headed to work, but I was too caught up in my thoughts and needed some time to calm down. So, after parking, I decided to take a short walk. As I started walking down the sidewalk to clear my head, I bumped into my cousin.Not wanting to trip, I grabbed a hold of his arm. A mistake on my part. The same whiteness invaded my sight, but my hearing was as sharp as ever. I could hear my cousin's voice and a female getting into a heated argument. Their voices were mentioning things that I couldn't process properly. And if that wasn't enough, strong emotions of concern and rage flooded into me."Weston, hey, you okay?" I heard my cousin ask as concern filtered in.I pulled my hand away.The pounding in my head grew worse than ever. I placed my hands on my temples, but it didn't alleviate the pain. It was stupid to think it would."Weston, cousin, talk to me."Once the buzzing in my head quieted, I lifted my head to stare into my cousin's brown eyes. "I'm.
In the morning, after deliberately delaying the inevitable talk that I wasn't going to like, I stepped into the kitchen where Norman was cradling a cup of what smelled like chamomile tea while my grandmother sat there with a stern look on her face. There was nothing in her emotions that I could detect and that worried me even more.Suddenly, her eyes glared at me. "Weston, dear, there you are."As I sat down, none of us spoke a word and the intense awkwardness was causing me to shift in my seat until I couldn't take it anymore."Grandma, you said we needed to talk. Can you do it now? This atmosphere is making me uneasy."Norman glanced between us. "You know what, I think I am going to leave. This seems like a family matter. I want to thank you, Ms. Ruth, for letting me stay. It meant a lot. I'm much better.""But, Norman, your bike...""Don't worry. Thanks for the help last night, Weston." He then stood up and ran out the front door before we could stop him."That's great. I think you