Caught in a Brainstorm

Sofie's Notebook

   Sofie looked at the sleeping form of her cousin, watching his chest slowly rising and falling. Every second that passed after her death haunted him, and she could see it written in the dark shadows of his face. How could she make him understand what really happened? Unless...

   "Please, please work," she muttered, placing her hands on the side of Harley's head. Concentrating on the foggy memories of her last night alive, she focused all her energy into rewriting his dream to what she last saw. The figure standing over her on the rooftop, city lights down below, its muffled voice screaming something unintelligible at her before picking her up and dangling her over the edge, the wind rushing through her clothes as she fell, then finally the sudden crunch of her skull hitting the sidewalk. "Just be enough, please. Figure it out, Harley, I know you can put it together. Wake up and tell the others, come on!"

   Harley sat up on the couch, breathing heavily, trying to process the vision. He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to steady himself, then grabbed the notebook from the side table and frantically scribbled down everything he saw before he forgot any details. He couldn't make sense of what he was shown, but he knew what it meant.

   "Will! Wake up!" Grabbing a throw pillow and hitting the girl curled up on the floor beside him, he whispered, "I know you can hear me, Will, I can tell when you're really asleep." Will stretched and propped herself up on her elbows, gazing at Harley with an annoyed and bewildered expression. "I gotta tell you something. Either I'm right or I've gone completely off my rocker, we'll find out in a second, but roll with it, okay?"

   Will tugged her t-shirt back into place and moved into a cross legged position. She finished off what was left in her water bottle and said, "Alright, you got my attention. What's going on?"

   "I..I think Sofie was murdered. I don't know why, or who did it, but she didn't jump. She was dropped over the edge." Will's hand shot to her mouth, staring wide eyed at Harley. He handed her the notebook, flipping through the pages, telling her all about what he saw.

   Leaning invisibly on the back of the couch, Sofie pumped her fists. "Yes! It worked!" She hopped over the side and sat next to Harley, though the fabric showed no signs of her presence. "Tell her, Lee, tell her about our gift. She'll think you're crazy but you have to prove you're right."

   "But...are you sure this is real? I mean, Harley, you've been through a lot and...how do you know that wasn't just a dream?" Right on cue, Sofie thought, now prove it. I'll play along. Just like that movie we watched last week! Will placed her hand sympathetically on Harley's knee. "Maybe you should go back to sleep, we can talk about this in the morning."

   "No, it was real! Look, I'll prove it." He grabbed the empty water bottle and set it on the table. "If nothing happens, fine, call me nuts until my dad comes to pick me up. But I know what I saw," his voice shook slightly as he spoke, "and Sofie told me what really happened that night and I think she's still here. Sofie, if you can hear me, knock over that bottle."

   Sofie reached across and tried to touch the plastic cap, but her hand went right through it as though it didn't exist. Or more accurately, she didn't exist. "Come on, you stupid thing, work!" She yelled as she imagined all her strength going into her hand and shoved her arm forward again, this time connecting with the bottle and sending it flying off the table. 

   Will screamed as she watched it hit the wall with a thump and drop to the carpet. At the sound of her shrill cry, Orion scrambled out from under their blanket, looking like a startled cat with their curly purple hair sticking up in every direction and their eyes staring wide at Will. "What the heck just happened?!