DUSK

four

"By who?" I said.

"I don't know..." she said.

"It had to have been another one of us." she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"But how? Why? Why would someone do this?" I asked, incredulous.

"I don't know, but I don't want you going back to school until we figure this out. It's too dangerous."

"What happened to him, exactly?"  I asked.

"The official story is that he disappeared....But I found the spot where he was killed. His body had been reduced to ash and mixed with the dirt."

She said, disgusted.

"Just. Stay here." she said, both hands on my shoulders. "I've been trying to get in touch with a few of his contacts, but I think they too, are being careful and laying low. I'm hoping Lawrence already got in touch and they're on their way."

"How many?" I asked, at once curious and afraid.

"Three."

~~~~

That night I had many things on my mind as a lay on my bunk.

Will's memory.

Lawrence's death.

Poor Tess...

And.

-and...

My breath caught and I felt a warm electric charge flow through me, starting at my feet and finishing in my head.

My eyes, fluttered closed.

...and I was someplace else.

I was in the valley brush, wearing the tank-top and yoga pants combination I was wearing now.

My feet were bare. Everything had a vague shifting haze around it, like it wasn't real. Which, of course, it wasn't.

I did a slow turn in place, scanning things human eyes couldn't see.

It was then that I noticed the spot on the horizon, it wasn't close enough for me to determine who it was, but I knew what...

He would arrive at any moment.

-And then he was in front of me.   He appeared to be a beautiful boy, more so than anyone I'd ever seen. His white skin held an deep olive undertone, that told me he or his kin might have been from a warmer climate. His hair fell in gentle mahogany waves around his face. His black eyes were entrancing and dangerous.

He looked like a teen, like me, but it was clear that he was not. His eyes traveled over me in a way that made feel naked. I tried to move, but my body was rooted to the ground.

He stepped forward and slowly, gently, caressed my cheek. His hand sliding down my face to my neck, which he held, none too gently.   Then he did something strange.  He pulled me close and bent so his lips barely brushed against mine and he whispered something I could not hear...

Then he inhaled...

I sat up with a start. Tess, standing over me, watchful and worried.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"You were gone for awhile... Just completely prone and unseeing, like you were asleep."  Tess said, stunned.

"Each of us, brings a different gift with us over.  You feel others' emotions and  your healing... it has never been a useful thing, I thought.  But now...