Don't Wander

Visions

“Um, maybe we should go inside,” I said, after a moment of painful silence. I took my mom’s arm and guided her across the yard and inside the house while Eden followed. My mom had seemed to recover slightly once we were inside and asked Eden to leave the room so she could speak to me alone. Oh boy.

“Are you serious about this?” She asked me.

“Yes, Mom. He’s my boyfriend. We made it official this morning.”

Her eyes went huge and she flapped her hands saying, “Look at him Rebekah! He’s obviously no good for you. Is he one of those kids that cuts themselves? What do you call them?”

“Oh my gosh, Mom! He is not emo!” I yelled.

“Are you sure? He looks like he might be…”

“He’s not,” I said flatly. “I like him, and he likes me. That’s what matters.”

“Partly. Did his family just move here? I don’t recognize him from around town.”

“Yes. He moved into a foster home here right before the school year started.”

“He lives in a foster home?”

“Yes…what’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He probably doesn’t have the best past. I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be with him.” She was tapping her foot nervously and biting her nails.

I crossed my arms and said, “You don’t even know him. So what if he had a rough past? It wouldn’t be his fault. You’re judging him solely on his appearance, and that’s not enough for me to take your advice.”

I left and marched upstairs to my room. Eden was lying on my bed with his hands linked behind his head and his eyes closed. He was so tall that his feet hung off the end of my bed and rested on my stereo. I grabbed my desk chair and moved it next to the bed before sitting down. I looked at Eden and knew how people could get a bad impression, but I still thought it was incredibly unfair.

Without opening his eyes, Eden said, “I can feel you staring at me. Care to tell me what’s up?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I need to ask you something personal.” Eden brushed his hair out of his face and opened his eyes.

“What about?”

“Your parents. How they died,” I confessed.

Eden looked at me for a long time. He didn’t appear angry exactly, but he seemed upset.

Finally, he looked up at the ceiling and said, “They were murdered. I was five. I remember it like it was yesterday...What’s wrong?” Eden asked. He had glanced at me and saw the look on my face.

I replied, “The reason I asked…last night I had a dream. I was a woman that I’ve never seen before, with dark hair and green eyes. I was standing in a dark room lit by a fire. A man ran in…and he called me Marian, and told me to…wake Eden…to hide him.” Eden had a surprised look on his face. I continued, “I ran to a bedroom and woke up a little boy about five years old. His name was Eden…and he looked like you.”

“No. That’s impossible. You couldn’t have dreamt about what happened that night. I’ve never even told anyone about it,” he insisted. He ran his fingers through his hair and held his head. “Is there more?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

I took a deep breath and explained my dream, describing everything, not leaving out any detail.

After I finished, Eden asked, “Is that all you remember? Did you see the man’s face?” Eden still had his face hidden in his hands.

“I remember hearing people scream, and hearing sounds like angry animals. I heard shots in the house when I was hiding the boy. I also heard a yelp, like from a dog. No, I didn't see his face,” I replied

“I grew up in a small community of my kind, in Colorado. My dad taught me about what would happen when I got older, and how to handle it. My mom was like any other mom. She took care of me when I got hurt, she made meals for me and my dad, she told me bedtime stories. Like every female of our community, my mother was human. She told me about how she had met my father, fallen in love, gotten married, and had me. She had to abandon her family, but she didn’t regret it. We were all she needed, she always said.”

“That night, she woke me up and asked me if I remembered the emergency plan we had talked about in the past. I did, and she told me it was time. I wanted my parents to come with me, but she told me they would find me if we all hid. Her last words to me were to be quiet and remember to stay hidden no matter what…and that she loved me. I heard the man come in and say pretty much exactly what you just told me happened in your dream. Then he shot her. I heard her fall on the floor, but she wasn’t dead. I heard her breathing through the blood in her lungs.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. He met my eyes and I saw pain and hatred in them.

He turned away and said, “The man turned on my bedroom light and then I could see through the floorboards if I moved from beneath the rug. Her blood was dripping through the cracks in the floor. I kept myself from crying, from making any noise that would alert him to my presence. He walked over to where she lay dying and watched her for a long time. He just looked at her as she drowned in her own blood, blood that he spilled. I heard my mother take her last breath, and then he left. I knew I would never forget his face. And I knew that if I ever got the chance, I would kill him. I want him to suffer like he made my family suffer.”

Eden’s hands were curled into fists that were resting on his legs. I carefully leaned in and placed my hands over his, saying gently, “He would deserve it. How did you escape?”

“I did what my mother had told me to do. I went to the tunnel’s exit, but I didn’t leave until I stopped hearing shots and screams and voices. Once the sun came up, it was quiet, and I left the tunnel. It opened up into some trees and brush just outside of town."

"When I went back, everything was burning. There was blood everywhere, but not one body in sight. I could smell them, though. They were burning, along with all the houses. Only four others survived. A young couple with their newborn daughter, and a little girl a few years older than I. The couple found another “pack” for me and a real foster home for the girl.”

He then lifted his head and locked eyes with me once again. The sadness and hurt I saw tore me apart. I wanted nothing more than to take his pain away. Eden continued, “Since then, I’ve been traveling from place to place, with nowhere to call home. I fight and cause problems because I hate everything and everyone. I wasn’t supposed to be there. I should have had a relatively normal life. When it came time for me to start changing, I was staying with a family. They had two sons a little older than me, and they were both rotten through and through. It didn’t matter to their parents; those two brats were their entire world. They didn’t give a s**t about me. They barely helped me at all, or gave me any advice. I was pretty much on my own, and that’s how I’ve preferred it ever since.”

I placed a hand on his cheek and whispered, “All I can say is that I’m so sorry. I don’t understand why people would do something as awful as that.”

“I did some investigating, and I found out that they’re part of some rogue militia. They find packs of us and then stake out the situation. Then they come at night while everyone sleeps, and they slaughter any living being there. Men, women, children, babies, it doesn’t matter,” he said grimly.

“So, they’re like werewolf hunters,” I mused, feeling sick to my stomach.

“That’s as good a description as any. They justify killing the females in a pack by concluding that they are more likely to reproduce with one of us, and therefore make more lycanthropes.”

“So…if I’m understanding correctly…what happened to you happens other places too?”

“Yes. All the more reason we have to keep a low profile. Which is why Drew doesn’t like your snooping around and is upset with me for not completely shutting you out.”

“Oh my God…I had no idea,” I sat next to Eden and wrapped my arm around his waist while I rested my head against his shoulder. “I can’t believe something like that could be sanctioned by anyone.” I felt Eden’s hand in my hair and held him tighter.

“I want to know how you could’ve dreamt about that night. It makes no sense.”

“You look a lot like her, you know,” I said softly. I felt Eden’s body go rigid, and I looked up at him, startled. “What’s wrong?”

“No one’s ever said that to me. Almost no one in the whole world even knows what she looked like. I’m just not used to it,” he said. I relaxed.

“Oh. I didn’t think about that.”

“It’s okay. Honestly, it feels good to hear.” Eden gave me a small smile before my door flew open and I stood up instantly.

My mom eyed me suspiciously and said, “I don’t think you two should be up here all alone with the door shut. Why don’t you both come downstairs?” She turned and walked away, and I knew what she said hadn’t been a suggestion.

Eden smirked and said, “Why did you jump up like your ass was on fire? You just made her think we were doing something.”

Exasperated, I said, “I don’t know! It scared me. It was a reaction.” Eden laughed and stood up.

“How cute,” he said. Then he bent down and picked me up by my thighs. Gasping, I placed my arms around his neck and hitched my legs around his waist. “I like this position,” Eden murmured. Warmth spread through my abdomen instantly and I couldn’t help but kiss him. He kissed me back for a moment before placing me back on my feet and taking my hand.

No sooner had he done that when my mom returned and said, “Seriously you two. I don’t want you both in here alone.”

We ended up spending the rest of our time in the back yard while my mom constantly watched us through the windows. When it started getting dark, Eden told me he should go. We walked around the house to where his motorcycle was parked, and he got on and started it.

“I’ll miss you,” I said shyly.

Eden flashed a quick smile and joked, “Wow, I must be doing a really good job as your boyfriend. Only one day, and I’ve already got you missing me before I even leave.”

“I’ll miss you less if we hang out tomorrow,” I suggested.

“Ooh, a whole Saturday alone with you…tempting.”

“Who said anything about us being alone?”

“I did. See you tomorrow,” he winked. I watched him as he started his bike and drove off into the night. My mom was getting ready for work when I returned, but that didn’t stop her from attempting to have another talk.

“How old is this boy? He seems too old to go to school with you.”

“His name is Eden and he’s only nineteen, Mom. Two years difference isn’t that much.”

“You’re still a minor Rebekah! He could get in trouble, you know.”

I placed my hands on my hips and argued, “Only if an adult complains. Since he has no parents, that would leave only you or Dad to cause a fuss. I’ll be eighteen in three months, so there’s no reason to freak out. It’s not like I’m fifteen or something.”

“I still don’t like it. I think you should wait until we can talk to your father about all of this.” She turned to face her reflection in the mirror while fixing her hair, avoiding my gaze.

“And how long will that be? He could be gone for months! I’ll be an adult who can make my own decisions long before he comes home.” I was not in a good mood now, so I went to my room and did my homework. It wasn’t easy, because my thoughts kept drifting to Eden’s past and my dream. I wasn’t sure how I could have dreamt those events so precisely without ever knowing anything about them. I’d heard that some people had “visions,” but I never really believed it. Then again, I never would have believed that werewolves existed either, if it weren’t for Eden.

I decided to look it up, and I discovered that “visions” were usually referred to as “prophecies,” and could be foretelling the future, discovering hidden events of the present, or revelations of unknown occurrences of the past. There were also levels of “power,” depending on the type of vision. According to my research, mine aren’t very powerful. My dream would rank near the middle of a scale I found. I was in way over my head, and I decided that I would discuss it with Eden tomorrow.