Page 19 of In Her Dreams
“Her name is Anita?”she asked, kneeling and pressing her fingers against the woman’s neck, searching for any whisper of a pulse beneath the cool skin.
“Anita Palmer,” came the answer.
Jenna shifted position, placing the heel of her hand on the center of Anita’s chest, covering it with her other hand.Without hesitation, she began compressions, her body automatically falling into the rhythm she’d practiced countless times in training.
Useless,her mind told her.She knew that if this was the woman she’d seen in her dream, it was too late.But this was the physical world.She didn’t stop.
“One, two, three, four,” she counted under her breath, keeping time.After thirty compressions, she tilted Anita’s head back, pinched her nose, and delivered two rescue breaths.
The woman’s chest rose artificially with the breaths, then fell still again.Jenna returned to compressions.
“Did you call 911?”she asked the roommate without looking up.
“Yes,” came the choked reply.She hovered at the edge of Jenna’s peripheral vision, her hands clutched together tightly.“They said—they said they’re coming.Oh God, is she—”
“Keep talking to me,” Jenna interrupted, not wanting the woman to spiral further.“What is your name?”
“Alice Bowen,” came the reply.“We’re both teachers.First and second grade at Greenville Elementary.I teach second.Anita’s the first-grade teacher.We—we’ve been friends since college.Decided to share this house three years ago.”
Jenna nodded, keeping her focus on the compressions.Sweat beaded on her forehead from the exertion.“What happened this morning?Walk me through it.”
“It was just another morning,” Alice said, her voice trembling.“We both usually wake up around six, but today Anita wasn’t up.I thought it was odd since she always starts the coffee.I took my shower, thinking she’d be up by then.But when I came out and saw the kitchen still empty, I got this uneasy feeling.”
Alice paused to steady her breath.“I went to check on her in the bedroom.That’s when I found her—just lying there on the floor.She looked so still...I tried to shake her awake, but nothing worked.”Her words turned into a sob as she recalled the panic that followed.“I called 911 immediately and then ran outside, yelling for anyone nearby to help.”
In the distance, the wail of sirens cut through the morning quiet.Jenna continued CPR, ignoring the burn in her arms and shoulders.The sirens grew louder, then cut off abruptly.Doors slammed outside, followed by the sound of feet pounding up the front steps.
“In here!”Alice called out, her voice strangled with desperation.
Seconds later, the first two paramedics burst into the room, equipment ready, a woman and a man.The woman knelt beside Jenna.
“Sheriff Graves,” she said.“We’ve got it from here.”
Jenna nodded and moved back, surrendering her position.Her muscles protested as she stood, the sudden cessation of movement making her light-headed.She wiped sweat from her brow as the paramedics took over, their movements synchronized from years of working together.
The male paramedic attached pads to Anita’s chest while his partner prepared the defibrillator.Another paramedic appeared in the doorway with additional equipment.
“No pulse,” the woman announced.“Beginning defibrillation.”
“Clear,” her partner called.
Anita’s body jerked as the electric current passed through her.The paramedics checked for a pulse, found none, and repeated the process.Jenna found herself counting the attempts, each one diminishing her hope.
After the fourth attempt, the female paramedic looked up at her partner and gave a slight shake of her head.She checked her watch.
“Time of death, 7:42 a.m.”
Alice made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a sob, then crumpled against the wall, sliding down until she sat on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest.The female paramedic went to her side, speaking softly.
Jenna stood frozen, her eyes locked on Anita’s still face.The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming.Just like Richard Winters—the expression of absolute terror, the seemingly inexplicable death.Her gaze drifted up to the wall above Anita’s bed again.
The dreamcatcher that hung there was a near-twin of the one in the Winters bedroom.Jenna stepped closer to examine it, her mind racing.Two deaths, two very odd dreamcatchers.It couldn’t be coincidence.
This one also hada disturbing, almost frenetic design.Dull, ragged feathers hung from the bottom, and along the rim of the circle were small, pointed objects woven into the design.On the one at the Winters home, she’d thought that those looked disturbingly like teeth, but these were larger.
More like beaks, she thought, remembering the dream.
“Excuse me,” she said to the paramedic who was now completing paperwork.“I need to step out and make a call.”
