Page 121 of Visions & Shadows

I don’t know for how long we drive, and I have no desire to glance around the foreign country.

A dull headache begins to throb behind my eyes, and I feel restless and agitated. The patch must be wearing off because my ribs start to ache with every breath I take.

“Can we please stop somewhere?” Brenna asks.

“Do we need to?” Raighne questions as he glances at her. “We’ve only been on the road for thirty minutes.”

“Yes. My bladder is only so big, you know,” she mutters.

“We’ll stop at the next gas station,” Jason replies.

We drive for another thirty minutes or so, and by the time Jason pulls over at a gas station, I need to use to restroom as well.

We all pile out of the station wagon, and Raighne says, “We leave in ten minutes.”

“The place where we’ll stop for the night is only another ten minutes or so away,” I hear Jason tell Raighne.

“Is that the map?” Raighne asks.

I glance over my shoulder and see Raighne looking at the cell phone in Jason’s hand.

Damn, I forgot about cell phones and all the luxuries here on Earth. I didn’t even miss any of it.

I follow Brenna into the restroom and pick the nearest open stall. I quickly relieve my bladder before digging another painkiller patch out of my bag. Peeling the old one off, I toss it in the bin. I stick the fresh one onto my thigh, hoping it will start working soon.

When I step out of the stall, Brenna’s washing her hands. She glances at me and asks, “How are you feeling? I mean…after the thing with Adeth.”

Her question and concern catch me totally by surprise. Who would’ve thought she, of all people, would care about me?

“I’m fine,” I answer. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?”

“Yeah.”

She looks at me for a moment before leaving the restroom.

While I wash my hands, my eyes latch onto my reflection in the mirror, and I notice dark circles forming under my eyes.

I swear I hear music playing somewhere, then my eyes turn from green to gray, and everything blurs.

Soft voices are harmonizing perfectly together. The melody is hauntingly beautiful, and I just stand and listen as they sing.

When the song comes to an end, I see a man and woman sitting on a small stage in a bar.

I recognize the man from the vision I had earlier.

They look so much alike, sharing the same blonde hair and gray eyes.

“You were great, Sarah. How’re you feeling?” he asks as they step off the stage, heading to a room at the back.

I follow them inside and notice how he looks at her as if she’s his entire world.

“Doug, stop your worrying. You’d swear I’m going to drop dead any second now.”

I see the fear registering on Doug’s face, his eyes filled with sadness. “Don’t say that,” he grits the words out between clenched teeth.

“I’m not leaving you anytime soon. You’re my big brother, and I love you way too much. Be a darlin’ and get me some water.”

The world blurs again, and I hear them laughing.

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