POWERS OF NATURE Book 1 - Into the Storm

Chapter 15

Her hands gripped her chest, clawing at the fabric of her shirt in an effort to get the piece of wood out of her chest. A scream was shattering her ears, and she vaguely registered that it was her own scream as a light came on, her eyes shutting against it and she felt soft hands on her own, pulling them away from her shirt.

"Stephanie! It's a dream, honey. Calm down." Her mother's soothing voice stopped her screams but she carried on trying to pull the wood she could still feel.
Sue gave up on pulling Stephanie's hands away and grabbed her shoulders, gently shaking her. Abruptly, Stephanie's eyes popped open and she locked gazes with her mom, her hands stilling on her shirt. "It was just a dream, Stephanie. It's okay, you're safe." Sue pulled her into her arms and she held her until Stephanie's breathing calmed down.

Pulling back, Stephanie looked down at her chest where she had seen the wood go in, but all she saw was a few scratch marks from her frantic clawing. A few beads of blood had formed in the worst ones, and Sue immediately dabbed at them with a tissue she had grabbed from the bedside table. Stephanie winced. "Want to talk about it?" Sue asked softly, throwing the tissue into the trashcan next to the bedside table. Stephanie shook her head, scared to open her mouth in case she broke into tears or threw up.

All she could think of, as her mom left to get her some water, was the sight of Aiden's body. She knew now that it wasn't really Aiden, but John Leuco, and it hadn't really been her, but Margaret. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling of fear that it could be Aiden. Another feeling swarmed with the fear, a longing to see Aiden and make sure he really was safe and alive. If she was being honest, it was more than that but she couldn't focus on that now. She leaned her head against the cool window, as her mom returned, noting the rain that lashed the window.

"What happened to the perfect weather?" She mumbled, her mom sitting on the edge of the bed. "It'll pass honey." Her mom handed her the water. "Do you need anything else?" Stephanie took a sip of the water before answering, her throat burning from the screams. "I'm okay, thanks mom."

Sue nodded and left as she planted a kiss on top of Stephanie's head. "Try sleep."

Stephanie nodded, her mind still on the dream. She knew it had been more than just a dream, it had felt more like a memory. She hadn't told her mom, but she felt a pain in her chest exactly where the wood should have been.

~~~

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, everything seeming fresh after the previous nights rain. Stephanie watched her mom leave for work, before running upstairs to shower and change before Matt came. Slipping a loose shirt on with her denim shorts and sneakers, she glanced in the mirror and drew her hair into a long plait that fell over her shoulder. Her eyes went to the scratches that were long enough to be seen just above her shirt, with a few starting at the base of her neck. The phantom pain had been gone when she had woken up again.

Grabbing the papers she had printed earlier, as well as the picture, she headed downstairs and deposited the onto the table before grabbing a cup of coffee, her min turning back to the dream. She had to physically stop herself from calling Aiden, knowing Matt would tell her if something had happened and she also couldn't face Aiden with all the feelings and memories she was experiencing about him. She knew it wasn't technically Aiden in the dreams, but the more she had them, the weirder her feelings became where Aiden was concerned.

Stephanie thoughts turned to the boy in the dream, Michael. It had definitely been a younger Mike Leuco, but that was physically impossible. The boy had been atleast twelve, and that would mean Mike was somewhere around 112 years old. It didn't make sense at all. She remembered the flashing blinding light the had appeared, knowing it hadn't been her, or Margaret, that had caused it. The second journal, about John and Margaret, had mentioned a grandchild that had been talking about a witch and after reading the report on the internet, she knew her dream had been about them.