Parallel Hearts (Parallel Hearts Trilogy, #1)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It’s time to return to where you belong.

The phrase still rattles through my mind as I wake from a restless night’s sleep. Return to where I belong? What does that even mean? The thought sends chills up and down my spine like I just swallowed a mouthful of bitter tasting medicine. Maybe the note was just someone’s lame idea of a practical joke…except the symbol leads me to believe otherwise. And who would be insensitive enough to play such a sick joke on me? That can’t be it. This must be something more serious. I should really start to pay more attention to what’s going on around me, instead of living unconsciously. Maybe if I had, I would have seen this coming.

As soon I got home yesterday afternoon, I ran upstairs and hid the disturbing card in my bottom dresser drawer. I didn’t want to tell Gram about it. She has enough to worry about with looking after the house and watching me saunter around in a grief stricken state most of the time. I can’t imagine what she would do if she knew about the note.

I rub the sleep from my eyes and toss back the covers. Throwing my legs over the side, I walk over to my dresser and kneel down to open the bottom drawer. The note is exactly where I left it, carefully nestled between my two favorite hoodies. I take the card from its secret place and analyze the symbol on the cover again. I gently graze the cover with my fingers, feeling the shape of the symbol embedded in the paper's natural fibers. The paper feels thick and expensive, like a professional business card. I take my necklace from the top of my dresser and place it over the symbol like a puzzle piece. It matches perfectly.

I rack my brain for reasons explaining the significance of the card I’m holding in my hands, but I can’t come up with an explanation. Not a reasonable one anyway. I don’t bother to read the message inside the card before replacing it back in the drawer. I know what it says. Pushing the note and its contents aside, I grab my purple robe from the back of the door and head downstairs for breakfast.

“How did you sleep?” Gram asks from the sitting room. She likes to get up early and sit by the bay window that looks out to the lake and watch the sun rise. She normally does crossword puzzles or watches the morning news, but this morning I find her reading. She’s very productive in the mornings, and usually has worked a whole day by the time most people wake up.

“Not so great,” I say yawning, scuffing my slippers across the hardwood floor and flopping down on the couch. The sun is beaming directly on my face and I raise my arm to shield my eyes.

Gram gives me a puzzled look and sets her book down on her lap. “What’s Marcie up to today? Maybe you two could go to the beach? The sun would do you some good.”

I close my eyes and curl up in a ball, yawning again. “She’s getting ready for prom. You know, hair, makeup, nails and all that.” Gram and I already had the prom discussion. Despite her protesting, she knows I’m not up for going. Putting on a fake smile and pretending to have fun isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.

“Okay,” she simply says, rising from her chair and I’m a little shocked by her short response. It’s not like her to give up so easily. “You know, I’m leaving this afternoon to visit with Marilyn for a couple of days. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

Marilyn lives in the country and is one of Gram’s closest friends. She’s been in and out of the hospital over the last couple of months and Gram has been meaning to visit with her for some time now. I guess she felt she couldn’t leave me until she knew I would be comfortable enough to stay home by myself.

“Yes, Gram. You’ve only asked me like a hundred times already,” I say in an annoyed tone. “I’ll be fine, plus I think it’s good for you to get away from here for a few days.”