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  Melanie jumped off the couch and ran down the hall to the room Josh had retired to earlier that evening. She opened the door and spoke his name, "Josh."

  The panic she had felt when she sat up on the couch peaked yet again when he didn't answer. She ran to the bed and shook his shoulders in desperation and yelled his name this time. Josh sat up yanking the ear buds from his ears, "Lanie?"

  She couldn't help herself, she was so happy to get a response she practically launched herself on the bed and held him so tight it hurt her arms. She sobbed and hot tears ran down her face and down his back. He realized she was terrified. She was shaking as she cried and held on to him. He wrapped his bare arms around her, getting slightly tangled in the wires of his iPod ear buds for a moment and held her tight to his chest.

  "Lanie, what is it? Are you okay?"

  She couldn't speak. The tears wouldn't let her. She was going to lose him just like she had lost Jack. She was cursed. She wasn't allowed to love or be loved. She knew that now. She doomed all those who got close to her with death. Her family, Jack, and now Josh. She didn't care that his entire life was downloading into her head. She held him with bare arms and hands, so tightly she was afraid she was bruising him, but she couldn't let go. One of his hands was now on the back of her head stroking her hair and his newly shaven face was soft against her cheek and ear.

  "Lanie, please. What's wrong?"

  She trembled as his fingers met with the base of her skull through her hair. They were strong and large, but tender and sweet. Then his hands met her shoulders and pulled her away from his chest so he could see her face in the darkness of the room. She wouldn't look him in the eyes and the tears were still flowing heavily down her face. He lifted her chin so she would look at him and said, "What is it?"

  She could feel the heat coming off of his body and his warm breath on her face. She was scared to tell him about the premonition. He would think she was a freak, like Jack had thought. Her mouth wouldn't work. She wanted so desperately to speak, but she couldn't. She knew in her heart that Josh was definitely no Jack. Jack was unkind at times, mean even, but she was terrified that with all poor Josh had been through, finding that she had doomed him to death would be the icing on the cake. His eyes would go cold and he would turn away from her, running as fast as he could. She couldn't bear it. She finally said, "I had a horrible dream. Something terrible had happened to you and I woke terrified you were dead. When you didn't answer when I first came into the room, I panicked. I'm so sorry I woke you, I just...I was just so scared."

  "I'm sorry I didn't answer, Lanie. I had my iPod on. It was just a dream. I'm fine, see?" He set her ungloved hand on his chest and put his hand over hers so that she could feel his heart and his breathing. It was almost as if he cherished having her hand there, but she knew better. He could never love someone like her – someone that doomed everyone around her to death.

  "I'm sorry, Josh. I just...I'm sorry, I woke you" she said and pulled her hand away from his chest and stood up. "I'm sorry. It was so stupid to wake you for a dumb dream. You've been so tired and I...I'm sorry, I'll let you get back to sleep."

  Josh tried to reach out to her before she turned and left but she was too quick and the words trailed off his lips as she retreated back to the living room, "It's okay, Lanie," but she never heard them. He wanted to get up and go to her, wipe her tears away, hold her and kiss her until her fears faded, but something kept him from moving. Was it fear of rejection? Or was he just stunned by being awakened out of a dead sleep? He wasn't sure what it was, but he regretted it almost instantly. As he lay back down in bed, trying to decipher what had happened, his chest ached as if when leaving the room, Lanie had somehow taken a part of him, ripping it deep from within his chest.

  Melanie lay back down on the couch again. The tears just wouldn't stop. She had been shaken to her very bones. Her head throbbed from crying so hard and her eyes burned. The only reason she fell back to sleep several hours later was sheer exhaustion.

  The morning came far too soon for Melanie. As the rest of the house started to stir, she opened her aching eyes and could tell they were swollen from crying. Josh, Blake, and Rowan congregated in the kitchen in search of coffee. Rowan asked, "Melanie, are you okay? Your eyes look swollen."

  "I'm fine," Melanie answered glancing quickly at Josh then back down at her coffee as she continued, "It must just be allergies. I was wondering if there might be a small department store in town? I would like to get some personal items, if possible, today."

  "Sure we can do that. Blake was talking about stopping by the bookstore and picking up a couple of books for Josh to look over. The guys can drop us off and then we can walk back to the bookstore to meet them for lunch. Sally doesn't open the store on Sundays, so she won't be there but we have a key and she’ll be fine with us stopping by."

  "Great."

  Melanie could feel Josh's eyes on her, but she refused to make eye contact with him for fear he would see right through her. She knew he couldn't read her thoughts, but she felt if she met his eyes she would melt and blurt everything out.

  While they had fruit and toast for breakfast, Josh asked Blake a bunch of questions about telepathy. Finally he said, "So, then, why can't I read Lanie? Plus when she's around, I don't hear the voices as much. Why is that?"

  Blake said, "You mean Melanie?" And he turned to Melanie and then back at Josh who nodded. "It could be a few things. There are those that have the gift of telepathy that don't know they have it. They don't use it to read people but focus it ONLY to keep people out. They don't even know they do it or have the gift. Usually these people have been through something very traumatic. I'm guessing this is the case with Melanie. I can't read her thoughts either. I only see a wall. It looks somewhat like a castle turret or tower made of grey blue stone.

  "This inward focusing is so acute that even those like you, Josh, who are very strong telepathically, can't read her thoughts. I would suppose if she were wounded or weak, it might be more penetrable, but she doesn't even realize she is doing it. I think that is why she is so talented in psychometry. She doesn't even have to think about focusing so strongly on something, so when she picks up something, she automatically focuses on the last impression left on an item."

  "You two do realize I am in the room," Melanie said.

  "I'm sorry, Melanie, I was just explaining the mechanics of the process."

  "I was kidding. I understand. It's actually pretty interesting. I never thought of myself as putting up a wall, but yes, if I were to envision one around myself it would be the tower you described." Still she did not look at Josh. "Well, I guess I'll go get dressed."

  "Yeah. Me too," Rowan said.

  Blake and Josh stayed in the kitchen as Rowan went through Darby's clothes and found something that Melanie could wear. While they were in there and out of earshot of the guys, Rowan asked Melanie, "Are you sure you are all right? You seem very shaken."

  "Just had a bad dream. Nothing to worry about."

  "It wasn't a premonition, was it?"

  Totally shocked, Melanie turned her head with a jerk. "A what? Ummm, no. How? No. It was nothing."

  "By the way you are reacting I would say it is SOMETHING but I won't push you. You've been through an awful lot the last few days. Darby told me about Jack and your premonition of his accident. I'm just letting you know that if you want to talk to anyone, you can talk to me. I know I'm not Darby, but if you need me, I'm here. Okay?"

  " Okay. Thank you! That is very kind of you. And thank you for the clothes. You and Blake have been a godsend. Thank you!"

  "No need for thanks. That's what friends and family do. Darby thought of you like another sister, so as far as I'm concerned, you are."

  Melanie smiled for the first time since her dream and hugged Rowan tightly.

  Chapter 9

  Once everyone was showered and dressed they headed for Rowan's SUV. Blake drove into town, stopping in front of Haddy's Department store. Rowan leaned over an
d kissed Blake and Melanie glanced over at Josh's sweet but slightly confused eyes and she smiled as she closed the car door. Rowan said to Blake, "We'll meet you at the bookstore in about twenty minutes. Don't forget to use the back door, so no customers come in thinking it’s open."

  "I will. Love you," Blake said.

  Rowan smiled and said, "Love you too. See you in a bit."

  Melanie and Rowan headed in the store and the guys headed towards the bookstore another two blocks and parked on a side street. The bookstore was on a corner and the back door was on a little side street off the main street of town. Unless you drove down the street you'd never see it. Blake unlocked the door and went into the back office, which was right off the back room. They kept excess books and inventory there along with office supplies. While they were walking in the building, Blake was explaining techniques he had taught Darby once to hold a psychic bubble around someone. When the conversation came to a lull and they had found the couple of books Blake was looking to show Josh, they sat down in the office. Josh flipped through one of the books.

  Blake asked, "Can I ask you a personal question, Josh?"

  Josh looked up concerned, then closed the book and set it next to him on the couch. "Yeah, I guess."

  "Why aren't you and Melanie, you know, together?"

  "Ummm well, I don't know. We've only just met. Besides, I don't think she's all that interested."

  "You're kidding right?"

  "No. Why?"

  "Well, I'm no rocket scientist, but I've been in your head and you obviously like her, but on the outside you treat her like she's your kid sister."

  Josh looked shocked. 'You obviously like her' echoed around in his head. Is that what all the confusion in his head and heart was about? Damn! he thought. Blake is right. It was like a light had been turned on. How stupid he had been.

  "Huh! I hadn't really thought about it."

  "Liar," Blake said jokingly.

  "Okay, so I've thought about it, I guess, but hadn't really put two and two together yet. So much has been going on; I guess my brain just hadn't sorted through everything. But it doesn't really matter, she doesn't really think of me that way."

  "What makes you say that?"

  "She's been distant since yesterday. Then last night and this morning, I don't know, she's been standoffish."

  "Why? What happened yesterday?"

  "We posed as a married couple at the motel but when we went to dinner, there were so many people in the restaurant, I kind of freaked. Lanie buffered a lot of the voices out but it was a bit too much, so she ordered our food to go so I didn't have to be around all those people. She was cute kissing me on the neck and acting like she was helping her poor sick husband back to the room. We talked for a long time that night. It was really nice."

  "So what happened the next day?"

  "I don't know? I got up in the morning and she was still asleep, I thought. So I went out for a walk. When I came back we went to breakfast. On our way back we saw the vampire and we cut out of there. Once we were on the bike, I knew there was something wrong. She had been up close to me all the day before, but she barely touched me yesterday."

  "So what happened at breakfast? Did you treat her any different then you had been before?"

  "I guess, maybe. There was this waitress at the restaurant that was hitting on me in front of Lanie. She even had the nerve to write her number down on the check."

  "How did the waitress treat Melanie? How did you treat the waitress?"

  "The waitress was totally rude to Lanie. She acted as if she wasn't even there. Lanie had to shout out her order to the girl as she walked away. I didn't want to draw any attention to us, so I played along smiling at the waitress, but I wanted to smack her."

  "There's your problem right there."

  "What? I should have smacked her?"

  "No. Don't be stupid. But YOU were the one giving mixed signals."

  "How?"

  "The day and night before, all seemed well, but then you smile at this waitress who is obviously hitting on you, you pretty much ignored Melanie while this was going on, and from what I've seen since you've been here, it's been pretty much the same. You didn't even speak to her last night at dinner. You didn't sit with her. In fact, I haven't seen you talk with her alone at all since you've been here. She doesn't think you are interested in HER and I have to agree, you are not exactly giving her any sign that you are. This morning she looked like she had been crying all night."

  "I think she had been."

  "And you knew this?"

  "Yeah. She came running into the room last night in a panic. I guess she had a bad dream, something had happened to me. I often sleep with my iPod on so I don't have to listen to the voices around me, so when she first came in, I didn't hear her and she freaked. She jumped on the bed and yelled my name and cried. I couldn't seem to calm her down. She was shaking and she held onto me like she was scared to death, but she wouldn't tell me what was wrong, she just said she had a nightmare. Suddenly she got up and wiped her face and apologized for waking me and went back to the couch."

  "And you didn't follow?"

  "No. Should I have?"

  "You really are new at this, aren't you? Actually, you should have never let her leave in the first place, stupid."

  "Hey!"

  "Well, if the shoe fits. You don't know much about her past do you?"

  "Who? Lanie? I know that her parents were killed in a car crash. When she woke up from the coma she had her powers. She met Darby in college."

  "Yeah, that's not much. Anything else?"

  "Hmmm, she paints? In fact she paints really well. I can't read any of her thoughts, as you know, and when I'm around her, the voices are quiet. It's like she puts a spell over me that makes me totally comfortable around her. The second time we ran into each other, I accidentally fell asleep on her couch. But I'm pretty sure she just thinks of me as a friend."

  "Rowan told me a story about her last night that maybe you should hear. It seems, in college Darby befriended Melanie because Melanie was so shy. When Melanie finally started to come out of her shell, she met some guy and they dated for a bit. At some point in the relationship, Melanie had a premonition that he and another girl were in a car accident and they both died. Melanie tried to warn the guy, but he treated her like a freak and dumped her for accusing him of cheating on her.

  "Later that night, he met up with some girl he had been dating behind Melanie's back. He had too much to drink and lost control of his car on a bridge. They went into the water and they both drowned. Melanie pulled away from everybody and everything after that. Darby was able to keep her in school to get her degree and she set her up in the apartment she was living in when you met her. Darby also set her up with a gallery owner who fell in love with her paintings.

  “Apparently, Melanie's a pretty well known artist in the art world. But, Josh, Melanie never leaves home, ever. She doesn't even socialize with the gallery owner. They do all their business via the Internet. The fact that she left her home to help you, that's huge, I mean, monumental. I'm sorry, but someone who would make such a sacrifice, is not 'just a friend', Josh. I'd dare to say she likes you quite a bit. Maybe she's scared or doesn't realize it herself, but she's taken a huge leap of faith for you. So take it from someone who almost lost the love of his life by making a stupid mistake, don't let her slip through your fingers. You two definitely have something worth pursuing."

  "I had no idea."

  "Well, now you do, so step up to bat, Josh."

  "Now I know why Dean teases you so much."

  "Why's that?"

  "You have some dumb lines."

  "Is that so? Hey, the girls should be back any minute. I forgot Sally wanted me to bring a big heavy box in from out of the back of the truck to the stock room. Don't go running off or anything, I'll be right outside the door at the truck."

  "Okay, mom," Josh teased.

  "Oh good, another pain in the butt to take teasing from. See if
I teach you anything more about your powers."

  Josh chuckled as Blake headed out the door.

  Darby and Melanie were coming around the corner as Blake was heading for the SUV. As the girls walked down the street heading for the back door, Melanie was suddenly struck with panic as the back door came into view. It was familiar – very familiar. She dropped her bags and began to run and she started to scream for Josh. It was the door she had seen in...

  BAABOOOOM!

  The blast was deafening. Just like the premonition, the blast first hit horizontally, with shards of glass shooting out everywhere along with brick, stucco wood, and other debris. Then a black cloud went straight up and the entire building was up in flames. The blast had knocked Blake onto his back almost to the opposite side of the street. Melanie was getting on her knees from being thrown back and she was about to head straight for the back door. Soot already blackened the tops of the doors and windows. Blake grabbed Melanie at the waist when she was about two feet from the door when another smaller blast threw them both back into the street. Melanie landed on Blake, but this time she got pelted with wood and brick shrapnel, saving Blake from any paralysis from the wood.

  During all of this, Melanie never stopped screaming for Josh. She hadn't even realized she was screaming. Her face was streaked with soot, blood, and tears. She started up again and was trying to get away from Blake, who had his hands on her waist trying to keep her from running into the fire. Blake knew that Josh could have never survived a blast this big from inside the building. He could see inside Melanie's mind as her huge wall came tumbling down as if the blast had somehow hit the castle tower in her mind that kept everyone out. The pure agony and guilt she felt oozed like tar through every nook and cranny of her destroyed imaginary tower - horrible gut wrenching guilt. Blake knew instantly why she was scared to tell Josh her feelings; she felt everyone around her was doomed to die because of her. She had prayed it would be different with Josh, but the premonition had come true. Yes, Blake thought, a premonition. It wasn't a bad dream Melanie had last night, it had been a premonition of this. Blake knew too, that she might not survive this loss. This was too acute and far too soon after the guy in college. She'd never make the mistake of leaving home again.