Shocking Memories

Chapter 15

I awoke in my bed, startled by the sound of the door slamming shut. I rolled out of bed and ran to the loft's ledge, where I spotted Jared walking into the room. He looked around, until his gaze found my location. With wide eyed excitement, he shouted, "You're back, thank God!"

He started running toward me, but I beat him to the punch. I slid over the railing, and glided down to the ground, releasing pulses of energy from my hands to slow my descent. It wasn't quite flight, but it was cool enough to stop Jared dead in his tracks, to watch me as I dropped. Once my feet clapped to the floor, and the blue waves of energy ceased their palm pulsations, he approached, wrapping me in a big hug.

"Holy crap I was so worried!" he said, grabbing me by the shoulders and holding me at a distance. He examined me that way for a moment before bringing me into another hug. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the movement of his chin on my shoulder. "You can't go running off like that!"

"I didn't just go running off!" I replied, gently pulling myself free from his embrace and making my way across the room. I grabbed the picture on the coffee table and brought it over to him. "I figured out where this was and went there to see if I would remember anything."

He grabbed hold of the picture frame and examined it, "Find anything?"

I paused, waiting for dramatic effect, and to build the tension, "I found my dad, he's alive!"

Jared raised an eyebrow, lingering on the photo for a little longer before turning his gaze back to me, "Sorry, what?"

"My father!" I shouted, as though that would clear things up for him. "I found my father!"

With a long sigh Jared set the frame down on a nearby counter and placed his hands on his hips, "I'm sorry, but that's not possible. He's dead Liv."

"He's not!" I replied. "I saw him!"

Jared grabbed me by the hand, and guided me toward the couch, "I think you should lay down."

I pulled my hand away from him, it was not his to hold like that, and I did not need to be guided. I was mad, maybe to an excessive extent. This was the absolute best news I'd had in recent memory, which isn't far, and Jared wouldn't believe me, "No I know what I saw, I met the man in that photo!" I shouted, pointing back toward where he had placed the frame.

Jared rubbed the bridge of his nose, frustrated, "Liv, you met someone that looked like him, maybe a relative's kid, but that photo was taken over a decade ago, even if he was alive he wouldn't look like that photo!"

"He could!"

"He couldn't."

"He could!" I put extra emphasis into that one, while also losing my composure and letting loose a blue pulse that pushed Jared through the room, and into the couch, where he proceeded to roll over and onto the cushions. I realized what I had done straight away, a cold chill ran down my spine. I rushed over to the couch, worried I'd injured him. "Jared!"

I reached the couch, looked over the side, and saw Jared roll off of the cushions and onto the floor, "Stay back!" he shouted, holding out a hand as he saw me approaching. "Don't come any closer!"

I stopped, hands raised into the air as though I'd been arrested by an officer, "Alright, that's fine. I'm sorry Jared, I didn't mean to-"

"Stop it Liv!" he took in a deep breath as though he was having trouble breathing, then released it slowly. "I need to get out of here." he said, walking past me and heading toward the door.

"Wait, Jared!" I tried to call out to him, but he wasn't listening. He opened the door, flipped me the bird, then slammed it behind.

That hadn't gone how I thought it would. This was to have been an exciting discovery, not a cause for argument. I walked over to the shelf that the photo sat on and retreated to my couch. If I had a computer or cell phone, I might have been able to try and look my father up, but I didn't have access to such tools. I also didn't have a reliable method of travel. I doubted I could convince Lonny to take me back to Blanko, and there was no way Jared wouldn't avoid doing me any favors. I only had one choice, master travel.