GFD 12: Blood Ties - 8. Chapter 8

To explain what I felt as I slept through the daylight hours of the day would be nearly impossible. It wasn't a 'dream' so much, as it was a sudden level of inner conscious. A wakefulness that alerted me to something...'not quite me'...in my own mind.

It might have been Alec, feverishly seeking me out with every extra at his disposal. It might have been the Beast, rushing to regain enough strength to come back at me once again from the shadowed depths of my pain. It might have been this other side of my sane mind, a personality eagerly waiting to be born out of the emotional Hell that I've been trying so hard to avoid. Or it could have been any number of other vampires who were now going to great lengths to seek me out. But somehow, as logical as those suspicions were...I wasn't convinced that it was any of those things. Not this time.

This was different. It was....almost like some part of me was attempting to speak. Something was trying to come through. My mind couldn't quite grasp it fully...but it was trying. It wasn't 'forcing' its way in like the Beast. It was simply manifesting itself slowly over time. And it had just evolved to a point where I could actually envision it. Softly presenting its existence to me...but not revealing itself just yet. Not until I was ready.

When I opened my eyes that evening, I could still feel the tingle of that awareness flowing through me. It intrigued me. Out of all the times that my mind had been invaded, this was an entirely unique experience. Strange. So very strange.

I stretched a bit, and rolled over to see Jeremy standing completely bare ass naked, with his back turned to me, at the foot of the bed. "Great..I go to sleep looking and your 'meat pony', and I wake up looking at ass." I said with a grin.

Jeremy smiled back at me over his shoulder as he slipped on some boxer shorts. "First of all, nobody told you to look at my 'meat pony', you did that your own. And second of all..my ass is magnificent, and don't you dare tell me otherwise."

"I didn't say it wasn't 'nice', I just didn't feel like waking up to it wiggling in my face. That's all."

"Hehehe, if I wanted to sit on your face, I would have done it while you were sleeping." He hopped back on the mattress with me and laid down at my side. "So...now that we have a whole night ahead of us before dawn rolls around again...are you gonna tell me what went down last night?"

"Last night?"

"The mad dash out of the alley? Yes. I thought that maybe you'd have some kind of explanation as to why we had to practically run for our lives while YOU stand back there alone to take on whatever it was that was chasing us." He asked. "Doesn't quite fit into your 'character', if you know what I mean. Not the one I know, anyway." I was quiet for a second, and my smile faded as I looked away from him. "Did you not expect me to ask any questions? If not, let me tell you, you're lousy at choosing what secrets you wanna keep. Something like that just doesn't get swept under the rug and forgotten about, I don't care HOW good of a liar you are."

"It was nothing. I miscalculated the threat, that's all. I thought we were being followed by a bunch of guys. Turns out it was just one or two...so..."

"You're lying." He said.

"What?"

"I'm a blood dealer, Justin. I make a living off of people who lie to me with every breath they can muster just to get a hold of my product. I know a cover up when I hear it, and you....are..lying." He told me, a smirk on his lips. "Care take another swing at it, junior?"

"How about it's none of your business? How's that?"

"Hardly answers my question, but fair is fair. Let me move on to question two then..." He lowered his voice as he scooted a bit closer. "...You think there's a 'bunch of guys' chasing us...and instead of asking us for help, you tell us to run and decide that you're gonna take on the whole army by yourself Now what makes you want to do something like that? Hmmm?"

I tried to brush off the question. I was exposed enough as it was without having to reveal myself any further. "Dude...it is much too early in the evening for this. Can I at least get dressed first? Maybe wake up fully, get my brain working again?"

"So you're not gonna answer me?"

"No. I'm not."

He nodded. "Ok. We'll see."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means guard your secrets carefully, young man, because I'm watching. That's what it means." He replied. And with that, I sat up to reach for a clean shirt to change into. It was then that I realized that I was naked from the waist down.

I snatched some of the covers and threw it over my lap. "Where the hell are my PANTS?"

Jeremy gave me a shrug. "You took a peek...soooo...I took a peek. Consider us even."

"Ugh! Dude, what the...?"

"Don't worry, Justin. I was all look and no touch. But for what it's worth...I was VERY impressed. Taryn's got himself a sweet little stud in you, hasn't he."

"I'm only going to say this once, ok? DON'T touch me when I'm sleeping! Alright?" I said sternly.

"Alright, alright...no need to get 'teste', hehehe!"

"I MEAN it!"

"Geez...you are SO not a morning person." Jeremy said, and stretched out a bit more on the mattress as he watched me get dressed. "You really ARE in love, aren't you? Trevor would have caved in within the first three hours if his snotty little rag doll hadn't been suffocating him the whole night." He told me. "That must be why your mark is so clear."

"My what?" He nodded towards the eternity band on my arm. "Oh...right"

"A vampire born out of love. You don't see many of those any more. Romance is dead. All that's left is sex, sex, sex. Most folks through patience and sacrifice right out the window and just hop on the first boy they think is cute enough to get them off. Nobody takes the time to really fall for the guy who listens to their problems, makes them laugh, compromises himself for their comfort. It's a lost art."

I pulled a shirt on over my head and tried to tease my hair a bit with my hands. "Taryn's different. He's special."

"I can tell." Jeremy said. "You know...your vibrations are different...when you're together. It's like you're a whole different person."

I looked back over my shoulder. "My vibrations? What do you mean?"

Jeremy held out his hand, and for a brief moment, I felt a warm sensation covering me from head to toe. It was like a soft fluttering just beneath the surface of my skin, and he was making it stronger with the power of his focus alone. "You feel it?"

"What are you doing?" I asked, feeling the trembles move back and forth across my chest.

"Everybody's vibration is different. It's like...a personal piece of you. A mental and spiritual fingerprint. If I increase it just a little bit, I can feel you. And 'you' specifically" He explained. "But...whenever you're with him, or when you talk about him, or when you even think about him...the vibration 'changes'. It's like yours and his combine and create this whole other person between you. It's actually quite fascinating. I've never felt anything like it."

"Really? You can do that?" I asked, and he smiled.

"I most certainly can. It takes a LOT of practice to fine tune it though. Trust me. Push too hard and I'll end up shaking your bones to pieces. I don't think you'd want that."

"I'm thinking not."

"I didn't notice it until that night you were injured in the subway and Taryn brought you by the lab for blood. When you woke up...your vibe...I didn't recognize it at all. You two together must share one hell of sex life, being that in tune with one another."

"And on that note...you just ended this conversation." I said, and put my shoes on.

"It's not like I asked you for 'details' or anything."

"Good, because you're not getting any."

"Not even...a couple?"

"None."

"What about a blowjob then?"

"Enjoy your evening, Jeremy." I said, not entertaining him any further and opened the trailer door.

"Arrrgh! Come on...I'm not getting any. The LEAST you could do is give me a hot story to think about." Were the last words I heard from Jeremy before closing the door behind me.

The skies above were a bit cloudy that night. You could almost smell the oncoming rain in the air, and a cool wind met me as I walked out to the center of the lot. I saw Kid playing by himself while he waited for Max to wake up. Throwing a dusty old baseball up in the air and catching it again. With a bit of grin, I concentrated on the ball... and when he threw it up again, I caused it to hover way up over his head and not come down. He looked at it in confusion for a moment, and attempted to jump for it. But there was no way he'd be able to reach it. I kept it spinning in mid air until he looked over at me to catch me in mid prank. Then...he brushed some of his mouse brown hair out of his eyes...and I felt a flood of static suddenly enter my head. It was only for a quick second, but it was loud. Frighteningly loud, in fact. And the sudden loss of concentration allowed the ball to fall right back down into his hands.

My eyes widened, and as I looked back at Kid in amazement...he actually smiled at me, and went back to playing. It was like...he completely CANCELLED my extra by destroying my focus with his static. It's like...he extended it beyond himself and blocked my thoughts from MYSELF instead. And he did it effortlessly. He 'made' me drop the ball. How long had he been practicing THAT little trick? "Hey...how did you do that?" I asked, and he shyly shrugged one of his shoulders. "Can you show me? Can you show me how to do it too?"

At that moment, I could hear the rusted door to Max's car creak open, and he stepped out straightening his chaotic hair with a yawn. Kid had gotten excited the second he heard the familiar sound of the door, and in the blink of an eye, he had dropped the baseball on the ground and ran over to be with his idol. So much for getting HIS attention for any length of time tonight.

He wrapped his arms tightly around Max's waist and squeezed before the poor guy could even open his eyes all the way. "Aw geez, will somebody please get this little street rat OFF of me for a couple of minutes?" Max grunted, looking down at the little boy as he buried his face in his chest. "Where's Jenna? Don't you wanna go see Jenna? Huh? You wanna spend time with Jenna, right?" But Kid shook his head with a tiny smirk. "Sighhhh...of course not. Alright. Come on. Let's go find something for me to do that includes you clinging to me like a fucking second shirt." Max acted like he hated every minute of it, but I doubt he could live without the attention at this point. I could feel how much he adored that little boy. I pity the person who ever laid a finger on him ever again.

"Justin." Came a voice over my shoulder, and I cringed a bit as I knew it was Bryson's. And he had that 'fatherly' tone going before I even turned around. "Laundry duty. Get on it."

"Do I really HAVE to? I wasn't even that late coming in last night."

"Look at it as a growth experience." He said, and handed me a giant sack full of dirty clothes.

"I've gotta do all of THESE?"

"No....you've gotta do these..those over there, a couple of loads from Gyro alone..." There were sacks of clothes EVERYWHERE! And I saw Dion loading them up into a rusty old shopping cart for me to carry them all. "Doc's got enough quarters to handle it, and a brand new box of detergent. Have fun." He said.

"Great. How can I not have fun doing everybody's laundry?"

"Consider yourself lucky. Jun got hungry this evening. He's going out to feed tonight. Otherwise, you'd be right back to mental exercises like I told you." I suppose I should be thankful for small favors, huh? Bryson moved closer to me, and I was almost worried that he was going to give me even MORE chores to do for complaining. But instead, he told me, "Justin...I really do wish you would reconsider. About the Jeweler. He's still in contact with Doc, we don't want to lose him."

"I already told you my answer on that." I said quietly. "I don't have anything to learn from him."

"You have EVERYTHING to learn from him. Justin, please...let him guide you. At least let him try. I'm going to make sure that Doc and Jun both work on your inner demons around the clock, but even then we can't be sure that we're making progress. Not fast enough for you to avoid what's happening to you..."

"NOTHING'S happening to me, Bryson." I tried to work up a fake grin. "Look at me. I'm fine. No more accidents, I swear. Everything is falling into line like it's supposed to now. I'm GETTING control over it. I just need some time to learn what I'm doing. That's all. You treat me like a stick of dynamite for crying out loud."

"Because that's what you are. Those pains and fears that you've tucked away so 'conveniently' for the sake of being normal...they don't just go away, Justin. They show up every time you're tested. And believe me...you WILL be tested. It's dangerous for you to not deal with what's wrong with you."

"NOTHING'S wrong with me!"

"Talk to him, Justin. Just talk to him. Tonight when you finish, come straight home. I'll have Doc keep a line open." He said sternly.

"I really don't understand what the big deal is. For all we know, this guy could be a total fake." I said, but Bryson simply folded his arms. "Alright, fine. Geez. Just don't expect me to suddenly change my mind about going to 'meet' him somewhere. I DON'T like him."

"Just give him a chance. Talk to him. See if you can find a use for anything that he has to say. That's all I ask." He said, and put an arm over my shoulder. "I told you, I just want you to be safe. Once we get a handle on all this...we can get back to just being normal again. Who knows? Maybe you can teach us all some new tricks when the time comes."

"Yeah...maybe." I said. But I don't think either one of us believed that there was ever going to be anything 'normal' about me ever again. According to this stupid prophecy, I've got a life of 'dedicated purpose' ahead of me. There's no sense of 'normality' in that. There's no returning to just being one of the boys after that. Chances are, it's only going to end up making me more of a freak than I already am. And that would be quite an accomplishment.

"I meant what I told you before, Justin. I'm here for you. I stand up for my family at all costs. I made someone a promise...and I plan to keep it."

"Somehow, I don't think this is what 'Amanda' had in mind for you, Bryson." I lowered my head a bit, almost ashamed at the thought of causing him so much stress.

"This is exactly what Amanda had in mind. It's not about the severity of the threat, or the size of the obstacle. It's about using the love and the strength that I carry for each and every one of you to keep us all together." He told me. "Like I said...I'd die for any one of them. Without hesitation. And that means you too."

"That's not gonna happen..." I said.

"It's not up to you to decide if it does. What is most important is that you realize your position in the hearts of our family...and you defend it with everything you got." If only he knew what he was asking of me. If only he knew how unbalanced I was on the thin line between losing my loved ones and losing my mind. "I had to lose the most important person in my life...because I wasn't watching. Because I wasn't there. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. Next time anyone tries to hurt someone I care about, they're going to have to take me with them. My heart is already frozen, I've got nothing left to lose."

With that, I saw Rain and Taryn emerge from their habitat together, and Taryn's eyes searched for me across the lot. Seeing Rain, her soft beauty hidden behind such a callous exterior of attitude and sarcasm, I looked back into Bryson's eyes and said, "I don't think your heart is as cold as you think it is And you should be happy about that." He looked over to see Rain as well, and I felt a soothing wave of tranquility enter his heart. It was subtle, mellow...but the more I got used to Jena's extra, the easier it was to pick out those little details. "You said Amanda wanted you to be strong. But..that doesn't mean that you have to be alone."

He didn't acknowledge the comment at all. He simply took his arm down from my shoulder, and said, "Doc should have about fourteen dollars in quarters in the lot treasury box. That should be enough to do most of what we've got. If you start running low just wash the rest of what's left, and we'll hang dry them here at the lot, ok?" I wanted him to at least think about approaching Rain with his true feelings...but...I guess tonight wasn't going to be the night.

"Yeah. Ok." I picked up the laundry bag and headed over to see Doc for change. But not before seeing Taryn connect his gaze to mine. I smiled and nodded in his direction, showing him the giant bag of clothes. And Taryn giggled a bit, as if to tease me. But he softly brushed the hair out of his eyes, and warmed my heart as he secretly sent me a kiss from across the lot. It was like falling in love for the first time all over again. The jitters in my stomach, the weakness in my knees...his angelic beauty always had SUCH an effect on me.

I made it over to Doc, and he already had his laptop open and buzzing. "Bryson said you had money for laundry?"

"Wow, big load tonight. You picked the wrong day to get stuck with THIS particular duty, didn't ya?" Doc grinned, and rolled his wheelchair over to front of his car. "Reach in the glove compartment and grab me the locked box, will ya?" I did as he asked and handed it to him. He kept the key around his neck, and unlocked it to show a small stash of change in quarter rolls and loose nickels, dimes, and pennies. There were a few dollar bills in there, but I doubt that it would be more than 25 bucks, if that. Just as he handed me the change, his laptop gave off a couple of 'blips' and I heard a bit of noise before it quieted down again.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh that. Well...Bryson wants me to keep an open communication with the Jeweler tonight, and I've been monitoring as much of his activity as I can without being detected. If it weren't for Pan giving me all of these hidden tricks and hacker codes, I'd never be able to do this without him finding out."

"Why? Does something feel strange about what he's doing?"

"Well, see, that's the problem. I have absolutely no idea what he's doing. It's like...there's all this hidden communication going on, and the chatter has gotten increasingly busy ever since we first contacted him. I'm just curious as to what he's up to, is all."

"Can't you find out what he's saying?"

"Small bits and pieces, here and there. But they're not making any sense. But I did catch the word 'imitar' a few times...which I thinks means you. The problem is, he's doing it on some kind of low level audio frequency, instead of written text. Almost like a radio feed or something. I can't get to it. I don't have access to a frequency 'secret' enough for me to tune in and hear what the 'news of the day' is."

I'm not sure where the idea came from, or why it was floating around in my head at that particular moment...but I had an idea. "Hold on a second. I'll be right back." I went back to the Trailer, just as Jeremy was buttoning up his shirt.

"Change your mind about giving me some ass, cutie?" He asked, but I didn't even have to waste the breath rejecting the idea.

I went into my little cardboard box of trinkets, digging through it with both hands. I know it's in here somewhere. I know that I saved it. More and more I scattered my material memories of the past few months...and then I found it! I grabbed it and took it back out to Doc and his laptop.

"Here...try this." I said.

Doc looked at the business card kinda funny. "What is this?"

"It's from Jarrod He was a friend of mine, the one from the IceZone party..." The second I said it...memories of what happened to him suddenly flooded my mind. And my heart felt as though it sank a bit in the pit of my chest. I remembered the sharp point of that shiv being spiked right through his chest. I remembered his screams and tears in those final moments before his eyes went blank. I remembered the twitching of his damaged unconscious body as he bled out all of his life essence. Strange how you think you've dealt with something like that...when you really haven't. I shook myself free from the inner vision of it, and tried to focus. "...He said that he was running a radio show. Something on a really low frequency. Something the human radio stations wouldn't be able to pick up. The way to get to it is on the back of the business card. Maybe it'll get you to where you need to be. Or at least put you on the right path to finding it."

Doc looked at it carefully, and used a finger to push his glasses further up on his nose. Then he attempted to hold back an educated smile as he masked the thrill of finding a magic door that might get him in. "Anything is possible, I suppose. I'll work with it and see what happens. Thanks!"

"Cool." I nodded, and backed away from him.

"Can I come?" I turned my head and saw Dylan standing behind me, with a very small pillow case full of a few clothes of his own. "It's not much, but I kinda wanna wash it anyway." He said softly.

"Let me guess...it's something that Dion says you look 'cute' in, right?" I grinned.

"Hehehe...maybe..." Dylan blushed a bright red, and I was more than happy to invite him along. It was much better than going by myself, after all.

"Cool. Well, let's get the hell out of here before they pile even MORE stuff on our dilapidated little 'cart' here!" I said, and Dylan offered to push for me.

But then said, "Oh! Wait a minute!" And he ran away from me for a second, finding Dion in a corner of the lot, and giving him the sweetest kiss on the lips before we could leave. Dion smiled tenderly at his boyfriend, and wrapped his strong arms around him as they shared something a kiss that was a bit more 'intimate' than what Dylan was prepared for. And I saw Dylan sag as he allowed himself to become completely lost in Dion's arms, melting into his embrace as if he almost couldn't stand on his own with such a rush of emotion surging through him. Their lips remained stuck together for a while longer, and I almost wanted to 'signal' him to STOP already before I ended up wasting even more of my evening at the laundromat. But they soon parted ways, a few final pecks on the lips before they were able to let go, and Dylan ran back over to me with a big goofy grin on his face as well as a deep red blush that seemed to almost glow in the dark.

"You are so whipped." I giggled.

"Hehehe, you're one to talk." He replied, and used his frail wiry arms to start pushing the shopping guard towards the front gate. I looked back at Dion, and grinned as I pointed in his direction. He had never been so 'complete' before. It felt good to see him happy. Not 'content' or 'comfortable'....but actually happy. It's not something I was used to seeing in his eyes. I don't think it was even really there until Dylan entered his life as more than just a friend. Something about it made me miss Taryn all the more. But it also gave me hope...that we'd be together again soon.

Dylan and I walked the streets, and took a couple of side alleys too. Any police officer that sees two teenage boys pushing a cart full of sacks is going to automatically think that we're up to no good. Dylan was probably more talkative than I had ever seen him. Even his voice was a bit louder than normal these days. Dion had definitely created a change in his personality. In his confidence, and his demeanor. While he may have been hiding out and too timid to speak before...he was happy to toss that bashfulness aside for a smile that stretched from ear to ear now. And there was an anxiety in hi that I had never felt before. This boy was absolutely, positively, head over heels in love. And it was so cute to watch him float beside me as we made the journey to the laundromat about ten city blocks East of where we were.

I broke out the roll and a half of quarters that Doc gave us as Dylan tried to separate the clothes on one of the counters. There were a few other people there washing clothes too, but not many. It was sort of a dimly lit, out of the way kinda place, and most of its customers came in the morning hours. Some college kids came in the early afternoon, but were either gone or almost done by the time we got there. I grabbed one of the big sacks of clothes and emptied them out next to Dylan's neatly stacked little piles.

"Wait, Justin. Don't put those in yet. You've gotta take all the dark colors out. Especially the reds." He told me. "One time, Michael accidentally dyed all of Max's stuff pink by mistake, and he had to walk around with two black eyes for the rest of the night. He looked like a raccoon." I snickered a bit from the mental image that brought to mind, but I did as he said. Somehow, I don't think Max would hesitate to punch us both in the eye first and give us a halfhearted apology later.

Dylan had brought one of his notebooks with him, and a few pencils just in case he got bored. Strangely enough, I had opened it up to a blank page, and even though I wasn't really paying any attention to what I was doing, I found myself making little doodles in the center of the page. Nothing that could be considered an actual 'drawing'...just some random lines and curves, drawn at different sides of the page. They weren't even connected. Dylan took an interest for a few seconds and asked me what I was making. I told him, "Hehehe, hell, I don't know."

"You don't know what you're drawing?"

"Nope! I've never drawn anything in my life. I guess I picked this little talent up somewhere along the way without knowing." I said. "This Mimic thing can be so damn cool sometimes."

"Hehehe, are you showing off?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah. I think I am. I hope it looks cool when it's finished."

"I know it will. Everything you do is cool, Justin. Believe me." He said, and then added, "Ok, this should be ok. Help me put 'em into the machines, k?"

We loaded the clothes into the washers and used all the quarters we had. And then Dylan sat on top of the counter with me, and just started chatting away happily again. I wondered how he even had the breath to talk so much. I wrinkled up my forehead a bit and just smiled in his direction.

"What?" He asked with an adorably huge grin.

"Hehehe, dude, I don't think I've EVER heard you talk this much!"

Dylan giggled playfully, folding his arms in his lap just to contain himself. "I'm sorry. Hehehe, except for Dion...nobody ever listened to me this much before. You're like...one of the only people I can really open up to, Justin." He said. "I guess you can't help being awesome huh?"

"Don't you start that." I told him. "So what's up? What's the big grin all about?"

"Ummm...I don't know....I'm just....hehehe...I'm happy. You know?"

"Any particular reason WHY?" I said, his smile so contagious that I couldn't help but want to burst out laughing myself.

"Ummm...I dunno..." He said, turning his head away from me. The raw output of joyful 'energy' that was radiating from his heart was almost unbearable. I had to use some of Dion's extra just to help 'water it down a bit'.

"You've got a secret don't you?" I asked, and he giggled again. Even while trying to hold it back, his shoulders bounced a bit from the chuckles, and I knew that I had him cornered. "Come on, you HAVE to tell me!"

"I CAN'T! It's...'secret'. Hehehe!" He said.

"If ANYBODY can keep a secret, it's me. And you KNOW that."

His blush reddened, and he rolled his eyes in the cutest way. "Look, this isn't official yet. So you can't tell ANYBODY, ok?" He said, making me promise that I wouldn't. "Well....uhhh...Dion and I are kinda thinking about....you know...maybe getting a spot of our own someday."

I...I didn't know what to really say. "Wait...you mean, like..not being at the lot any more?" And Dylan nodded with a boyish grin. "Awww, dude, are you serious? You guys are gonna leave?"

"Well...not LEAVE, really. It's just...Dion said that maybe we can find someplace that'll be just right. You know..for the two of us. Forever." He giggled again, his joy was almost blinding. "It won't be for a long time. I mean, we need to save up money and find a good place and all, but...awwwww, Justin...he want to BE with me! I mean...sighhhh...I don't even know how to handle all of this! I just know that...I wanna try. For him. And for me too, I guess."

I have to admit that I was almost a little heartbroken to think of the lot without Dion and Dylan being there with us. They were a big part of me. But at the same time, the adorable way that Dylan kept trying to hold back his joyful smile, and failing miserably, it couldn't help but to be happy for them both "God, Dylan...that's...that's awesome news, but...dammit, I'll miss you guys if you go away."

"We won't be far away. Dion wants to stay in the city. And we're gonna visit, like, ALL the time! I promise! I just..I can't imagine what it's gonna be like. Having a place of our own. I swear, Justin...he blows my mind every time I look into his eyes. He's soooo gorgeous to me. I never want this feeling to go away. You know what I mean?"

"Hehehe, yeah. Yeah, I do." I said, and I gave him a big hug around the neck to congratulate him. "And to think...you were too scared to talk to him."

"Hehehe, I KNOW, right?" He said, squeezing me tighter. "Thank you, Justin. If it wasn't for you and Taryn, I never would have known a sensation this amazing. We're gonna be together forever. I never thought I'd be able to say that about anybody. Ever. But you made it come true. And I can't put into words how much that means to me."

Dylan was almost teary eyed at this point, and despite the folks watching us put on this big old gay display for their entertainment, I didn't want to let him go.

It was at that moment that he looked over my shoulder and asked, "Hehehe! What the heck are you drawing?"

I looked down, and the drawing was a bit more complete than I remembered it being just a minute or two ago. "Did I do that? I don't even remember. Hehehe, weird." It still hadn't taken shape yet, but I kinda wanted to finish it now. Just to see what happens.

"You're freaking me out." Dylan grinned. "I'm gonna get some jolly ranchers candies from next door. You want one?"

"You've got money?"

"A little." He said. "We could split a little bag of 'em if you want."

"Nah, go ahead. I'm alright." I told him, and as he walked out of the laundromat, I felt my hand moving on the page again. The pencil began to make much more frantic movements as the scattered lines on the page started to come together. I felt like I was 'channeling' the image out of somewhere else entirely, and just relaxed myself to let the picture come to me.

I smiled at the detail of the drawing as it came to life right in front of me, and even when I closed my eye, every line connected to another. Every shape was formed on its own. This was AWESOME! I've gotta show this to Taryn when I get home!

Then....I opened my eyes...

And I saw what the drawing was becoming...

My smile vanished. My excitement disappeared. And even though I tried to stop my hand from moving....i kept going on beyond my control. I could hear the scribbling of the pencil against the page, and there was no doubt about what was happening here.

It was a picture of a figure in shadow...holding a sharp metal pipe that looked like a spear of some sort. Blood was dripping from the tip of it. And on the ground, right in front of it...was a sketch of Dion with tears in his eyes. As if crying out in agony. Blood gushing from his mouth. And below was the drawing of a human heart...pierced straight through without mercy..a death blow for us vampires.

When I was finally able to pull my hand away...it was too late. It was Dion's murder...sketched out in detail on a notebook page in Dylan's book. And it was then that my eyes turned black, and blood began to dribble from my tear ducts. Just as Kyra's did back at Dash's sanctuary.

The future. The prediction. The horror.

I dropped the pencil to the floor, and was quick to rip the page out of the book! I told myself that it couldn't happen. That I wouldn't LET it happen! But after all that I've seen so far...

Did I really have any control over it at all?