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  When I stepped into the lobby of the school, I could see that it was about to rain – the sky was dark, and I reached for my headphones, but my phone was dead. I remember panicking, thinking that I’d never make it home without my music. Bianca came to my side and said, “Aww look, it’s gonna rain – let me give you a ride home – it’s the least I can do – you’re the only friend I’ve made today.”

  “Why did I get in that car?” I said under my breath, shaking my head from side to side as I looked at Madison.

  “I asked you the same thing – you said you felt like if you didn’t, you’d pay the price on the walk home,” Madison said, holding my stare and trying to see how far my memory was going to take me.

  “Did I ever try to get away again? I mean, did I just give in after that point?”

  “You tried every trick in the book – you couldn’t see their past, which made us believe that they were pure evil – you became determined that Bianca was trying to distract you with Britain so she could reach Draven – we’ve always thought he was the target for the darkness.”

  “See…see their past,” I repeated, wondering what she meant by that.

  “I’m not going there with you – Draven said he’d teach you.”

  I remembered him leaving this morning – the idea that I could see my father – that sparked another memory.

  “I was afraid that if he shared his gift of music with the world that he would pay the price my father did,” I said in a tearful whisper.

  “Right…and he vowed never to do that…instead, they stay hidden and just let their music leak out across the ‘net’ without a name behind it.”

  I reached for the phone on the dock to turn it off so I could hear the guitar sound – I wanted to hear my father tell me I’d make it through this. The sound was still there, and I felt the confidence behind every chord.

  “What’s he saying?” Madison whispered.

  “That I’ll break through this dark cloud around me,” I answered as the sound grew louder, as if to agree.

  “I think we were wrong. I think you’re just as much a target as Draven is…I don’t think Bianca was distracting you. I think they’re after you, at least, she is,” Madison said as her eyes looked over me.

  “Did I ever agree with you?” I asked.

  “No…but I know I’m right – they took the memory of every man in your life away and only left Britain’s.”

  “I never told them about another man…they couldn’t take what they didn’t know,” I said, determined that I still had to protect Draven. I knew that Bianca was a seductive, manipulative soul. I remembered having Madison drive up and take every piece of evidence that Draven was in my life back to Salem – I even remember telling Draven that I was just packing for the summer – that I wanted to take those things with us when we left with Austin. I cringed as I remembered the lie leaving my lips.

  “They played you, Charlie – let you believe that Bianca was after Draven – watched you wash away evidence that he existed. I would even say that they saw the shield you used when you lied to Draven.”

  “He knew I was lying to him,” I said under my breath, thinking of the pain I remembered in Draven’s eyes.

  “He knew you had your reasons,” Madison promised.

  “What’s my shield? Tell me how to use it.”

  “I’m not going there with you. I told you that Draven will teach you to see. You have to see to protect yourself.”

  I looked down, knowing that no matter what, I had to figure out how to see before I was face to face with Britain.

  “When was the last time I talked to you before Saturday?” I asked, looking up at her.

  “Thursday morning.”

  “The day of my party.”

  She nodded. “You said you were going to end this – that you’d figured out that they had to obey free will – you said you were going to let your shield down long enough for them to see the free will of your soul – you thought they’d fade like the shadows.”

  That phone call came back to me – it was the only time I can recall ever fighting with Madison; she told me I was insane and threatened to tell Draven – or at the very least, call my mom – I wondered if that’s why Mom came home early.

  I looked at her with accusing eyes – my mom may have saved me that night – but there was no telling what she had to face to do that.

  “I didn’t tell anyone – not even when your mom called me from the ER – Draven’s dad tried to get it out of me – but I didn’t tell him either…I wasn’t gonna betray you. I just told them to get you away from those two – I begged your mom to just leave town that night, but she refused to run…she said at the very least, you deserved to walk the line at your graduation. I begged Draven and Aden to go there – but they wouldn’t either…Draven refused to break his promise to you.”

  “I told him to wait for me here…that no matter what happened, not to come for me,” I said as tears came to the corners of my eyes.

  “I could kill you for saying that,” Madison said, reaching her arm around me.

  “I just didn’t want him hurt.”

  “Being away from you hurts Charlie – it always has.”

  “Does Draven know Britain and Bianca exist? Did you tell them – Evan?”

  “Draven knows you fought something…but he doesn’t know the name behind it. I’m gonna keep it that way…at least until I know that they really aren’t after him. What that birthmark means – if Britain doesn’t have one, then you may have been right – if he does, then you were a fool.”

  I gazed into a blank stare. I didn’t have any new memories to enforce what I was thinking, but I was starting to put the pieces together.

  “I thought Britain was a victim of Bianca…that…that he was under her command – possessed.”

  “That’s where I think you’re wrong – you thought that the dominance he had around her was an act to fool you – that’s why I came up last week. I think they’re one in the same…I just don’t know what they are.”

  “I had to have a reason to think he was a victim – I had to have seen something.”

  Madison shook her head from side to side. “I really think he was just playing you. I watched him with you – he was more aware of you than Draven has ever been…I think you just fell for the attention – it was like he could read your thoughts.”

  My eyes grew wide. “Do you think he can?”

  “When you learn to see again, you’ll understand that what we think comes across in our body langue; he was reading that…the only person that can see behind that shield of yours is Draven…but you’ve managed to block him out…that’s why we are where we are now.”

  “Why did you say I fell for his attention…did Draven and I have a bad relationship…did he not give me attention?”

  “You had a perfect relationship…a real one – one that had every element in it. You had your problems…you felt like you were holding him back from his music…that if it wasn’t for the shadows or knowing each other since you were children that what you felt for each other would have faded – can we agree now that you were wrong?”

  I nodded as she said that. I could remember lying awake at night, thinking those thoughts and fighting with the urge to tell him to chase his dreams.

  “You were wrong…if anything, this ordeal has showed you that. It wouldn’t have mattered if you had met him as child or passed him on the street – the way you feel about each other would be the same. The two of you complete each other….what was meant to make the two of you weaker has only made you stronger…he’s never gonna let you out of his sight again.”

  I bit my bottom lip and fought angry tears. I was furious with myself – with Bianca. I had to fix this….fix us.

  “I can only hope I can find someone to love me the way he loves you,” Madison said, reaching her arm around me.

  “You will,” I said as I tried to smile.

  She looked down and pulled her arm to herself and bega
n rubbing her wrist. I glanced down and saw that it was raw…like she drew something there, then wiped it away. For the first time in a long time, I saw her confidence show its weak side.

  “What was there? Why did you wipe it away?” I asked, trying to decode the smudged ink.

  “I was thinking about getting a tattoo…I wanted to see what it would look like.”

  “Of what?”

  She continued to wipe the ink away from her olive skin. “I was thinking about an Ankh.”

  “That sounds pretty cool – that’s the cross with a loop at the top, right?”

  She nodded. “Eternal life.”

  “You should get it – draw it the way you want it; we can find an artist to mock it.”

  She shook her head no. “It was – It was just a stupid idea. I think I want something more original.”

  “You are original – one of a kind…get it.”

  I’ve known Madison my whole life, and even though my memory was out of place, it was easy for me to understand that we weren’t talking about a tattoo…there was something else beyond being inked or the battle I was fighting that was tormenting her thoughts.

  “What’s wrong?” I mumbled as I scooted closer to her.

  “We have more to worry about…it’s nothing.”

  “Tell me,” I said as firmly as I could – she was always my rock, and it was clear that right now she needed me to be hers.

  She let out a deep breath, then closed her eyes. “I keep having bad dreams.”

  “About?”

  She opened her eyes. “A guy.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know – I’ve never met him…I’ve dreamt of him before – I’ve dreamt of him my whole life.”

  “Is he bad?”

  She looked down at her hands and began to play nervously with her rings. “I don’t think he is…but I think where he is – it’s bad. I think he’s confused…lost.”

  “Is he a man, or is he young like us?”

  “Like us…he’s tall…he has the most captivating dark eyes…and there’s this power that seems to emanate from him…but under that, he’s just a boy….and I think…I think he’s gonna be hurt.”

  “Madison, look at me,” I said as I reached for her hands. “I don’t understand seeing or what we can do – but you have to realize that these dreams must mean something – I mean, maybe you should leave my problems alone right now and figure this out.”

  She shook her head and looked away. “You saw Austin last night,” she mumbled. I nodded. “Did you remember him telling us about Chara – the string – that path he showed us?”

  “It’s all vague, Madison…when I remember things, it’s like watching a life that doesn’t belong to me.”

  She tried to smile. “It makes sense that your memory would come back like that….that’s the way you see,” she mumbled.

  I wanted to question her about seeing, but I was too worried about her. “What does Austin have to do with this dream – this boy?”

  “I don’t know…I just know that when we met him…the first image I saw was the guy in my dreams. It’s like Austin is a doorway to him….but I’m too scared to go.”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” I said, putting my arm around her. “Not yet…don’t be scared of this – I’m told dreams are the mind’s eyes. This guy could really need you, and I know you wouldn’t let anyone be in pain without a reason.”

  She wiped away a tear that she was too brave to let fall. “I don’t know….it seems so tangled. Sometimes…sometimes in my dreams, he looks right at me, and I can feel…I can feel utter devotion. Other times, he’s looking at someone else…she looks like me – but I’m not her, and this…rage soars through me – because I don’t want him to look at her like that.” She looked to her side at me. “How crazy is that? To be jealous of someone that may not be real – to feel like I have some kind of claim on him.”

  “It’s not crazy – you said it yourself – Scorpios are jealous creatures.”

  “When we get through this…this thing that has happened to you, and Draven convinces you to go with Austin – I’m coming, too, but only to protect you…I think….I think if I ever saw this guy in real life – I would have no choice but to run.”

  “Why would you run?” I asked, bewildered, as I brushed her long, dark hair over her shoulder.

  “Because I’m not gonna let him hurt me….I don’t want to feel the way I feel in my dream.”

  “Maybe that girl with him is hurting him, and you need to save him,” I said as I looked into her emerald green eyes.

  She smirked and shook her head. “Maybe…but he doesn’t seem to mind.”

  “Why do you feel like something dark has him?”

  “I – I just feel like everything that we’ve seen or heard is nothing compared to what’s around him – I swear, it’s like a living hell – sometimes I can see around him, and even though where he’s at is nice – almost like a palace…the world is gray – lost…so lost.”

  “That doesn’t sound like the place Austin is talking about – Chara.”

  “Right…but Austin said there are other dimensions. I have no doubt that one of them is the one I dream of; that one of them holds this tall, dark, flawless image I see in my dreams.”

  “Well, then, if I ever figure out who I am – and we go…we’ll just walk by that one…we’ll go when you’re ready.”

  She ran her hands across her face. “Thanks…sorry to bring this up…I think Britain has made it all surface, and I just…just wanted to talk about it.”

  “How did he bring it up?”

  She shook her head from side to side. “It’s stupid.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Last night, I dreamt about Britain and this other guy – they were fighting….and I woke up before I could see who won….and what’s really sad…is I don’t know who I wanted to win…and that doesn’t make any sense because I can’t stand Britain.”

  “I think you kinda like him,” I mumbled.

  She shook her head from side to side. “No…I just don’t get him…and I hate not understanding something.”

  We sat in silence for a minute, both lost in twisted thoughts. Madison took a deep breath and stood up. “OK…I’m gonna go…I’m still trying to look into that birthmark of Bianca’s, and I’m trying to track down Britain and Bianca’s family line – history repeats itself.”

  “Let me help.”

  “No…I’ve got this. Focus on bringing back more of your memory.”

  She leaned down and hugged me, then turned to leave the room.

  I bit my bottom lip as I watched her leave….something told me that her dreams – what I was going through now….was just the beginning….that our fate was here and there was no way to avoid it anymore.

  I tried to weave my new memories into the ones I already had. From this point, it looked like the game I was playing with Bianca was a battle of the wits – I could only assume that if I played out the role she had created for me, I would find a way to win – that my wit could find a way out of this.

  Chapter 12

  I reached for Britain’s phone. I was terrified that if I didn’t text him like I told Bianca I would – that he’d just show up. I read through the texts that came from him since last night. They started out by saying that he should just come now – that he was worried about me. They then moved on to him telling me that my silence made him think it would be worse if he did. Around one in the morning, he started to ask if I was home – if I had fun – for me to call him – that he couldn’t fall asleep without hearing my voice. This morning, the texts said he was here and sent me the address of his house. The last one warned me that Bianca was on her way to my house and he couldn’t stop her – for me to think of something quick to say to my sister. I was furious with myself – I couldn’t believe how out of control I had let this get.

  I took a deep breath and texted: ‘That warning came a little too late – not good.”

&nbs
p; “Sorry – you know how determined she can be when she wants something.”

  “I’m not a thing – I’m over this.”

  “Over what”

  “You and her – it’s like it doesn’t matter what I say you don’t listen – I feel ignored.”

  “You’re not ignored – far from it”

  “Then how come what I say doesn’t matter – I have no free will.”

  He didn’t text back, and for a minute I was starting to believe that those two words were a powerful defense.

  Then he texted. “I don’t know what she said to you – but you know I care about your free will.”

  “Then why don’t you see that I need space – from both of you.”

  “That hurts Charlie – you can hate her that’s fine just don’t assume we are one in the same.”

  “Hard not to” I rebutted.

  “Come see me.”

  “Madison is here – not tonight.”

  “When?”

  “Maybe tomorrow before my mom gets in.”

  “Maybe – or yes?”

  “Yes – only for a minute – and I have to bring an alibi”

  “Madison?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  I shook my head – I didn’t like the idea that Madison was dreaming about him any more than she did….none of this made any sense.

  “I have to go – tomorrow.”

  I hit the ‘Sleep’ button on his phone and tossed it in the drawer of nightstand.

  I reached for my phone. The last text was from Draven; he said he was on his way. That was five minutes ago. I scrolled through the other texts, not even bothering to read the ones from Bianca. There was one from my mom, telling me to call her when I got up. I laid my phone down so I could finish getting dressed. I knew Draven wouldn’t care if I was on the phone with her when he got here. I brushed my hair, then put on a little eyeliner and perfume. I pulled on my Sketchers, then found my mom’s number in the contacts.

  She answered on the first ring. “I was about to call you – I just got off the phone with Kara,” she said.

  I cringed, wondering if Kara had told her about Bianca being here.