Page 49 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“Van. Van. Come here.”

Van turned his head. What the fuck? It was his mother. How the hell was that possible?

“You’re not real,” he said.

“I’m as real as you,” she said, laughing.

He looked down and saw he was dressed for his academy graduation ceremony. His mother was in a pretty blue dress she’d bought just for this occasion.

He rarely saw her dressed up, but she was so proud of him.

He was damn proud of himself too.

“Mom,” he said, his hand reaching out.

“Life is full of change, Van. Remember I’ve said that to you before?”

“Yeah,” he said. He felt his throat starting to close up on him.

“Open your eyes to every possibility,” she said. “That includes forgiveness.”

“Wait,” he said. “Don’t go.” She was fading away from him.

“I’ll be back,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

“Van.” It was a man’s voice this time. “I’ve waited so long for this day. Maybe that was the problem.”

He blinked a few times and tried to clear his vision, but it was hard. The person was too far away yet his voice was almost in his ear.

“Who are you?”

“You know who I am,” the man said. “Just like your mother said. Open your eyes. Believe in forgiveness. You were given a second chance for a reason. Believe in that also.”

“I’ll believe in what I want to. If you can’t show your face it’s meaningless.”

“You’re not ready to see my face yet. When you are, you’ll understand. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

Van sat up with a start and looked around his room. It was still dark out. Earlier than he normally got up.

He turned and grabbed his phone from the bedside table and saw it was just after four.

He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was still in his bed on Amore Island and not in some crazy fucked up dream again.

Just to be safe, he grabbed his gun and got out of bed, moved out of the room quietly and made his way through the whole house.

When he was done, he felt like a lunatic.

Returning the gun to its place, he pulled some workout clothes from his dresser and went into the bathroom.

He pissed, brushed his teeth, then showered quickly before taking off for his run. He needed the cold water to wake his ass up when he normally showered after.

By the time he was at the end of the street, the sun was making its way up over the horizon.

He pushed himself harder than normal, running past Kelsey’s house. No lights on yet and he didn’t think there would be any.

It was probably for the best. If he saw a sign of life moving around he might have been tempted to knock to see if he was still dreaming or not.

When he returned home, he felt his mind was as clear as it was going to get. He knew he was dreaming. Nothing more than that.

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