Whispers [complete and non-edited]

Chapter 22

The room was just as he had expected it to be. Except, it was faded and worn. Dust clung to the air like a koala to its mother. Laehal coughed when he inhaled the air, and tried to clear it by moving his hand in front of his face. Up and down, side to side. There was his bed. And the bear slouched against the pillow.

He closed his eyes for only a moment, and he could see two adults sitting beside him on the bed, tickling him. The bear was beside him, and the man was tickling it too.

He opened his eyes and the image was gone.

Laehal left the room and wandered down the hallway. Nearly bumping into it, he passed through the back door outside. The yard was a mess.

The adults were chasing him around the yard. He looked around and in the reflection of the screen window, he saw the face of a grinning little boy.

The vision was gone as soon as it had come.

Stumbling back into the hallway, he bumped something on the wall. A picture had fallen. He picked it up, and then dropped it again.

Was it possible, like really possible, that he knew the people in this picture?

The man and woman were cuddling a little blond boy. They were all grinning. They seemed like a very happy family.

But Laehal had only known his mom. Shayel was a single mother, she never talked about his father, so he just thought she didn't want to bring it up. He had just thought that maybe she was a one night stand, maybe the father left when he found out she was pregnant, maybe she ran away from him, maybe she didn't know who he was, maybe his father was killed. There were so many options.

"I'm going to ask her about them when I get home," he decided.

He walked back towards the door when he noticed something on the ground in the kitchen. He walked down the stairs to go check it out.

On the ground lay a broken mug and a crumbled up piece of paper, both covered with dust. He picked up the pieces of the mug and reassembled them on the counter.

'Best Mom' was painted on it.

A sudden image flashed through his mind.

Shayel was leaning back against the counter, blankly staring at the coffee maker.

'Coffee,' came a little voice.

I'm ready, I'm ready!

The next thing he knew, Laehal was seeing Shayel drinking from the Best Mom mug, and the bear--Blueny!--was hanging from his hand.

He held his head for a moment, then unfolded the piece of paper.

Written on it, in Shayel's handwriting, was an address.

145 East Fern Street

He flipped the paper over.

Move him away. Contact Urin Reeves. [PRONOUNCED urr-in reevz]

Laehal didn't know of any Urin Reeves, but he did know that to find answers, he had to check out that address.