UNSEEN

FOURTEEN

"You were there, Reece."

I was there. I see the rain, but it's not pouring on me. I look around. I'm in the car. I'm in the car and Liv sits in the driver's seat. She's not smiling, like in my earlier visions. She's looking ahead in fear, the kind I've never seen on her face before.

I can still hear my mother.

"They found you in the trunk, heavily sedated."

It's completely dark now. But I hear voices, faint but multiple voices. The air is tight, it's hard to breathe. My hand touches the metal hood. It's locked. I scream.

A hand opens the truck and the sharp sunlight coming from beyond the trees hits my face. Cops, everywhere.

"You couldn't remember anything that happened. You knew who the killer was but it was pointless. We contacted doctor Tressman. He said you were in critical condition and that any shock could lead to you losing your memory completely. And ever since then, we've been trying to get your memory back without traumatizing you. That journal you found, we put it there on purpose. We asked the cops to keep you out of the media's reach. Other than us, only Calum knew about it. He was desperate to know who the killer was, and he'd do it at the cost of your memory. That's why we didn't want you near him."

As I'm pulled out of the trunk, the officer holding me hands me over to Calum.

" Shh. I got you." He says.

They put Liv's body before me. She's wearing my pink, fluffy jacket. I try to shake it off, to come back to the present, but it doesn't go. I can't see my mother. All I see is Liv, dead.

"But I remember. I was home. I was watching scream. You were there, too. On the couch, yes!"

I touch Liv's cheek, hoping to see some colour.

" Another thing you should know, now that we've come this far." my mother says.

Blue.

" You've always been this way."

I'm not in the woods anymore. No, I'm standing over my dead father's body in the dim room. The broken lamp is in my hand, not my mom's. She walks over to me and says "Honey, what did you do? Oh, it's.. It's alright. No one will know. We'll never say a word about this, okay?"

Now, I stand before the forbidden door in the mansion. Abel stands next to me.

"So, Reece, are you ready to embrace it?"

"Yes." I say, innocently.

"Very well." He pulls out the key and puts it through the keyhole.

I see Calum again.

"Everything you know is a lie."

Evan is done talking on the phone. Mom's still holding my hand, crying.

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

I can't make the blue go away. Shaking, I run upstairs and lock myself in the bathroom.

I lie in the tub brimming with cold water. There's only one thing left to do. I shut my eyes. Wetness and darkness, that's what nightmares are made of.

I'm in the car again, this time, with real focus. I look where her gaze is. Beyond the rain and beyond the mist and beyond the illusion, I see it.

I see her.

Her red hair is almost brown in the moonlight. Tall and slender. I now remember going through the photographs in the lobby behind the reception. Her father was in the military, he taught her how to shoot. There's a picture of her holding a medal.

And suddenly, Liv's shoes flash before my eyes. The shoes. Pink with a blue bow. Oh, they weren't just Liv's shoes.

The water is flooding my ears. But for the first time, nothing is clouding my thoughts.

I know what I need to do. I need to see my therapist.

One last time.