Aftermath Read online

  Hayden: I left for Texas, but you

  already knew that. I love you,

  and even though you already know

  that too, I will never stop telling you.

  My heart ached even more than it had before.

  I got up and decided to do something productive. I called Marie to tell her all about the dream I had during my nap. Another nightmarish dream that I hoped wasn’t a prediction. Nikki and Marie had been very accepting after I told them everything, well, almost everything. Marie, surprisingly, believed what I had said right away. Nikki on the other hand was harder to convince. Luckily, my dreams were cooperating and I was able to predict a few things to Nikki. I scared her off for a good week but she came around. Pretty soon she was back to the same old Nikki, joking around and thinking my predictions were humorous. She asked for the lotto numbers on more than one occasion. Marie was oddly the supportive one. She was the first one I would call after a dream.

  I described the attack I saw in my dream. “The scenery sounds a lot like Lafitte,” she noted. She was right. The swamps and the walking paths in my dream did look like Jean Lafitte National Park. I hadn’t been there in years so I had no idea what it could look like now. “But there are a lot of places in Louisiana that look like that, so…” she added after my pause.

  “Yeah,” I agreed, but my mind focused back to my dream. I wrapped things up with Marie, realizing that the house seemed too quiet. I wondered if Luke had left me alone. It was completely dark as I walked downstairs. I looked to the couch, where I expected to find Luke flipping through channels. A sole light shone from the kitchen. I walked apprehensively towards it, raising my bare feet unintentionally to my tiptoes.

  “Luke? What are you doing?” My heartbeat leveled, feeling relief that I was not alone.

  He looked up at me from the breakfast table. “Reading a book.” He held it up with one hand as evidence.

  “You’re reading?”

  “Yup.”

  “A book?”

  “Yes...” He sat the book down now, looking me square in the face from across the table where I now sat. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

  “It’s not; I just didn’t expect it is all. So, what are you reading?”

  “Oh, just some book I found of yours.”

  I scoffed. Of course he went through my purse. “Well, do you like it?” He would say no at which point I could say that he shouldn’t have been going through my stuff.

  “Actually, yeah. It is really good. I haven’t been able to put it down.”

  I raised one eye brow at him but he was serious. I let out a laugh before it disappeared. Looking out the door to the backyard made me think about the dark swamp I saw in my dream and the jogger who went in unknowingly.

  “What’s wrong?” Luke scooted his chair closer to where I sat; his scent pooled in the air around me. I held in a breath. Luke chuckled and adjusted his chair. Dang, I hated how he knew his effect on me. I couldn’t hide anything from these two, especially not the quickening of my heartbeat as a result of my embarrassment. Thankfully he moved further back so I found it safe to breathe again. But I hated the fact that I should care about how good Luke smelled in the first place. His scent was stronger than Hayden’s and completely different. Hayden smelled like summer and Luke, like autumn. He smelled sweet-yet-earthy, like oranges and dried leaves.

  I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I just had this dream…” I thought if I talked, it would keep my mind off other things.

  “Tell me about it,” he said before I could brush off the topic.

  “I don’t know anymore, Luke. Why am I dreaming of these things?” The question was rhetorical and his lips curled down and waited for me to say more.

  “I had a dream last night about Hayden leaving and despite anything he or I tried to do, it still came true, he still left. What is the purpose of seeing the future if I can’t do anything about it? I don’t know if I will have an ordinary dream or a horrible dream when I close my eyes. I took a nap today and dreamed of an attack. It was someone I didn’t know, in some place I didn’t know, or maybe I do know but what’s the point?”

  “You know the place in your dream?”

  “Marie had said it sounded like Lafitte and maybe she’s right.”

  “Then let’s go.” Luke stood up grabbing his keys off the kitchen counter.

  I followed. “Wait, what? What do you mean ‘let’s go’?” Adrenaline rushed through my body at the thought.

  “You keep sitting here, beating yourself up about what you see. You want to help, you want to change the future but you’re afraid to do anything about it.”

  “I…I’m not afraid. I just thought it was too dangerous. You know, the whole protecting me bit?”

  He raised his eyebrows at me, answering all my questions at once.

  “You really think I can change what I see in my dreams, to stop it from happening?” I became more and more excited at the thought of him believing in me, believing that I could do something about it.

  “Well not just you. But you and me? Hell yeah.” He smile was infectious and I couldn’t help but returning the look. “C’mon.” He grabbed my arm, sending a numbing sensation throughout my body as he pulled me toward the garage.

  Inside Hayden’s black sports car, I second-guessed myself. “What are we doing? I mean, really? Who knows when this is going to happen? It’s only after nine, we could be waiting all night. “

  “What are you afraid of?” His hazel eyes met mine and my chest immediately constricted. I held his gaze only briefly before the smell of autumn caught in my nose.

  “Let’s do this.” I shifted in my seat and turned up the volume knob on the stereo.

  He smirked as he thrust the gear in drive.

  What was I afraid of? That wasn’t an easy one to answer. Sure, I could pretend that I wasn’t afraid at all, and that is surely the face I would be giving Luke. But that was a lie. Was I afraid of whatever kind of animal it was that attacked the passerby? Was I afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stop it? That I would be too late? Or maybe I was afraid of the feelings that were developing in me as a result of Luke’s unconditional faith in my abilities.

  It took thirty minutes to drive to the national park, and with the stereo loud, I spent the entire time chipping the polish off my nails and thinking, or rather, second-guessing. What was I doing? The closer we came to our destination, the more anxiety I had. I came up with a million different excuses to turn around and go back home but when we got to the entrance, I didn’t need any.

  “Oh, it’s closed. Too bad. Well, at least we tried.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Luke pulled the car to the side and got out.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You don’t think we came all this way to let a little gate stop us, do you?”

  When he saw that I wasn’t getting out of the car he came around and opened the door for me.

  He bent down to face me. “What’s wrong?”

  I looked at my hands, trying to decide what to reply. “It’s a swamp.”

  “And?”

  “And I’m afraid of alligators, okay Luke?” Maybe it was the fear of going into a swamp at night with hungry alligators that had been ticked off since the hurricane or maybe it was something more. Either way I didn’t want to find out.

  “You've been hunted by a ghost and driven eight hours with a gang of Hunters who wanted to kill you and you’re afraid of alligators?”

  He was right. I hated when he was right. I was not the same person I once was. I had become stronger, I had to be stronger.

  “C’mon. Not to wound your pride or anything, but, more likely than not, I am going to be the one that is protecting us here. I am immortal; an alligator is the least of my worries.”

  I nodded once and got willfully out of the car. It took Luke only a second to open the gate. His nonchalance about it gave me just a glimpse into his world.

  “You said you dreamt of a jogger?”
Luke asked as he stepped through the gate.

  I followed close behind. “Yep.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “What’s weird?”

  “It’s weird that someone would go jogging in a state park after hours, especially one that you claim is filled with alligators.”

  “Hm. I guess I never really thought about that. I never said this was the exact place, I couldn’t be sure. It’s just what I saw, okay?”

  “Okay, Okay, I believe you.”

  The lights on the car went off automatically. I jumped forward, almost knocking into Luke. My heart sped up and I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. Luke laughed.

  “Will you stop listening to my heartbeat?” I barked at him.

  “I can’t help it; it’s so loud I could hear it from Terrytown.”

  “Ha-ha,” I mocked. My eyes were adjusting to the complete darkness but the moonlight was not enough for me to see where I walked.

  “You have no idea what it does to me knowing how close you are to me right now, but could you stop stepping on my heels?”

  “I am a human remember? I can’t see anything in the dark.”

  “Oh yeah, woops.” I heard the rattling of a key chain and then a small flashlight turned on.

  I grabbed it from him. “Thank you.” I shone it on the scenery around us, hoping something would spark a memory of familiarity. We walked about ten minutes in and the smell of swamp hit me. It was probably all around us.

  “Anything look familiar yet?”

  “No, for the last time.” I was ready to give up, until I saw a bench. It was just a small resting place for walkers but it looked like one in my dream. “Maybe this bench? I don’t know, I can’t be sure.”

  “OK, well at least that’s a start.” He sat down.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Waiting.

  I shone the light in his face, looking at him incredulously. This was not the Luke I knew. “You really have that much faith in me to sit here and wait who-knows-how-long for who-knows-what?”

  “Don’t you get that already, Ana? Yes. I do.”

  I shrugged and sat down next to him. Gooseflesh covered my arms; it was the cool air of a New Orleans winter. I had barely managed to grab shoes in the excitement as I left the house. I looked at Luke; he looked perfectly comfortable in a black t-shirt. Impossible. I tried to rub my arms to produce heat by friction. My cold hands only chilled me further.

  “You’re cold?” He asked surprised.

  “Uh, yeah? It’s like 40 degrees out here!”

  A unique expression came over his face; it was of confusion, then pain. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…”

  “Aren’t you cold?” I shone the flashlight over his t-shirt for effect.

  “No, Ana. I don’t get cold. Or hot.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that.” He still held the same expression, thinking. I continued, “I guess there is a lot I don’t know about Hunters.” There was hint of sadness to my comment, which I tried to hide from him.

  He suddenly stood up, taking off his t-shirt.

  “What are you doing?” My back straightened as I choked out the words.

  “Keeping you warm.” I moved the flashlight abruptly off his torso. If he thought my heartbeat was loud before…

  “Here, put this on.” He handed me his shirt and I obeyed. It was still warm when I put it on and gave his autumn scent a stronger, more home-like feel.

  “Thanks. Are you sure you won’t be cold?”

  He laughed. “No, Ana.”

  “Okay…” I wished he would have just kept the shirt on, which would have been less awkward than knowing he was shirtless beside me.

  “So, what’s the plan?”

  “You’re asking me the plan? I thought you’d have one.”

  “It’s your dream, you know all the details.”

  The beauty of his facial features in the moonlight distracted me. “How’d you get that scar?”

  I tried to reach out to his face and touch it with the tips of my fingers. He pulled his eyebrows together and turned away. “It’s nothing.”

  He exhaled a jagged breath. “It’s from the night my parents died.” I pulled my hand away and placed it on top of his, not forcing him to say more about how his parents were killed, but hoping he would. He turned his hand, palm up, entwining his fingers in mine. A tingling sensation shot through my body.

  “Something’s coming…”

  I jerked my hand away at his comment. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Shhh…”

  I turned off my flashlight, my hands shaking in the process.

  A minute later I heard quick footfalls on the leaf-covered pavement. Adrenaline rushed through my body; the shot of blood to my head caused it to spin. My heart pounded against my rib cage; anxiety and joy took over as I realized I was about to witness my dream coming true first-hand.

  A few things happened simultaneously. The man approached us, Luke stiffened, and I turned the light on and jumped up to stop him.

  “What is this?” The jogger skidded to a stop. His postured erected like he was ready to defend himself.

  Luke got up with me, standing to my left. His eyes were scanning the darkness around the jogger. Upon seeing a shirtless and muscular Luke, the jogger started to run in the other direction.

  “Wait!” I yelled after him. Luke held out an arm to stop me. I shined the light on him, his chin rose and his gaze narrowed in the opposite direction of the jogger.

  “We’re not alone.” He let out what sounded like growl. Luke pulled me closer with his arms. “You ready?”

  A tried to force a swallow and nodded.

  “Whatever it is, we’ve disrupted its plan, and it’s not happy about it. The jogger is no longer its target. Listen to me, Ana. You need to go back to the car immediately. I’ll take care of whatever it is. Go now.” Luke disappeared beside me and I didn’t hesitate to think about how I was alone in the dark swamp. My legs took off under me, faster than ever before. The adrenaline pushed me harder and faster.

  ‘Whatever it is?' That can’t be good. That definitely can’t be good. My heart raced but my breathing remained steady. Should I be worried about Luke? No, surely he could handle whatever was out there. I stopped running and looked in both directions, not sure which path to take. I had to listen to him this time, to stay out of trouble and meet him at his car. But the energy that flowed through my veins told me otherwise. I felt like I could take on whatever was out there. But I didn’t want what happened last time at Club Skye to happen again. There would be no Hayden or his parents to bail me out again. I looked down at myself, realizing I still wore Luke’s shirt and it saddened me. He was here because of me. Because he believed in me, and if anything happened to him because of it…

  I looked one final time in the direction Luke went and started running toward him. I ran for a few minutes, feeling like the darkness was about to close in on me. Fear prevented me from stopping, a high kept me going. Luke’s black t-shirt clung to the sweat forming on my body and I finally slowed to a fast walk.

  “Luke?” I whispered knowing I didn’t need— or want -- to yell in order for him to hear me. Seconds passed with nothing but the sound of locusts and bullfrogs. But then even those quieted and there was pure silence around me. I had whispered his name again before I heard footsteps behind me. My heart froze in my chest. Luke.

  “There you are! I’ve been trying to find you, are you all right?” I turned around to look at him, but there was no one there. I shone my flashlight in every direction. Still, there was nothing. Nothing but dead silence. And then the sound of footsteps. I turned in each direction, always hearing footsteps behind me. Maybe I just didn’t know where they were coming from.

  “Luke, it’s not funny.” If he tried to scare me, I swear—

  The sound of the footsteps got closer. My ears were ringing and skin burning from a painful chill. An instinct inside me warned me and I took off in a run
. “Luke!” I yelled, tearing my vocal chords as I started running. Yes, I definitely had to run. I ran faster than before, still hearing the footsteps trailing me. They were catching up to me, and getting louder and louder as they hit the ground, sounding like a horse trot on hard pavement. I gasped as something stung my back in one sharp movement causing me to fall to the ground, face first. I turned on my back ready to face whatever was after me. I felt the ground around me with my hands, hoping by some stroke of luck that the flashlight had just turned off but had not broken. A bead of warm liquid slid slowly down my face. It felt too thick to be sweat. Blood. I sat up feeling the gash on my forehead and cringed at the pain. My breathing heaved as I waited for whatever was in front of me. It was as if it enjoyed tormenting me this way. I tried to make out the dark shadows around me. Nothing was there until all-at-once something dark and heavy was on top of me. I kicked it off me with such force I heard its friction against the ground. I thought about running again, but I knew it would just keep coming after me. I had to kill it, but how? Was it man, animal or something other entirely?

  I stood up preparing to find something I could use as a weapon. The shadow rose taller than me and then the shadows multiplied. Like the thing had split in two because there were now two things on either side of me, surrounding me. In what felt like hours passing, not seconds, I flashed back to Halloween night at Club Skye. I pictured the Hybrid, a disturbing combination of a pig’s head and a man’s body. The pig-head craned its neck to the side, its black, empty eyes boring into mine. The corners of its repulsive mouth drew up into what appeared to be a smile. A satanic smile. My whole body shuddered. Luke was there. He'd pushed me forcibly behind him, his body tensed and positioned in a crouch. His broad shoulders had blocked my view of the hideous creature. He had been protecting me that night but I had no one to protect me now. Luke was prepared to fight then. How could I let this happen? I was supposed to save his life but he ended up risking his to save mine. Something wrapped tightly around my neck, choking me as I was lifted into the air. My feet were set on top of the bar, but the tightening around my neck was not released. I felt the blood start to pool in my face. There was only one person pressing against me from behind, but too many arms imprisoning my body. One around my neck, each arm and leg, my waist… Luke turned around and looked up at me, determined. My vocal chords didn’t work as I tried to call out his name…