FINAL GATE (#3 GHOST PORTAL series)

THREE

Avery shot back to life out of nowhere, propelled out of a heavy dream. Groggy, confused, as if drugged, he sucked up breath after breath of oxygen.

He regained consciousness, regained control of his body. He was still driving down a deserted highway, but the dryness had dissipated, and there were clusters of vivid green trees along the road.

He was back in California.

"When did we pass the border?" He wanted to rub his eyes, but as the Guides had relented their domination over him, he couldn't let go of the steering wheel. The road was uneven, bumpy, and he didn't like the idea of driving one-handed.

"An hour or so ago," answered Ada, nicely nestled in the confines of his mind, likely analyzing the dream he'd had. If that were the case, she'd better keep her mouth shut.

He blew out a breath and smacked his lips; he was thirsty. "I think I need a break."

"We're close enough that we should push through," said Ada, stern but not pushy. She sounded less tense than before; maybe she'd enjoyed driving in Avery's place. Nothing to worry about but the road, the speed, the passing scenery. Or maybe Avery sleeping had given her a reprieve from his weighted thoughts. "And I wanted to talk about that dream you had."

Avery groaned.

Of course she does.

"What about it?" He gripped the wheel. "It was a dream, nothing more, nothing less. I have those all the time. And what's in them has never been, and never will be, any of your business."

Ada cleared her throat, a curious echo inside his brain. "It was something peculiar that got my attention, though. And more so because it wasn't really a dream, was it?"

Avery gritted his teeth and peered out at the line of trees ahead. "Not that I have anything to explain to you, but no. It wasn't a dream. It was a memory." He averted his gaze as another car passed him in the other lane, and he didn't want anyone to think he was talking to himself. He didn't want to be talking to Ada, but it'd be a waste of time trying to change her mind. "A memory of the moment I saw a ghost as a kid. I told you about that, didn't I?"

"That was your memory of it?" Ada came off as genuinely interested, and something about her tone bothered him. "That was how it happened for you? Your discovery of the supernatural, that is."

"More or less," said Avery, frowning. "I was young, so it's obviously blurry. But it's what got me into ghosts, hauntings, the afterlife. The supernatural, as you call it. That whole experience is a part of who I am."

"Yes," Ada's voice grew shaky, a bit distant, "I'm aware of it. All of it. That moment where a spirit guided you back to your parents? I was there."

Avery almost slammed on the brakes. His foot was jittery. "What?" He breathed in, out, and tried to stabilize his trembling hands. "What do you mean you were there?"

Ada didn't respond at first, but Avery felt her shifting about inside his consciousness. Hesitating, ruminating over her next words.

Avery didn't have time for her internal debates. "Explain yourself now, Ada. This is a serious comment. A serious matter. You're claiming you saw that incredibly important point in my life and then you're silent? Talk."

"I didn't see it," she said, sounding like she was swallowing a large lump. "That ghost... it wasn't a ghost. It was me. I was the one who guided you."

This time Avery did slam on the brakes, jerking himself forward and almost smacking his forehead on the dashboard. He probably would have gone through the glass if Ada and Faz weren't inside him, protecting him. They both screamed within his mind as he redirected the car off the side of the road, under a cover of trees.