Shadowed Dreams & Rippled Water

Kane's Kind Words

Chapter 12

Kane's Kind Words

Startled, I jerked upright, my heart pounding through my chest. My head whirled with visions of the white room, the river, Dad and Stacey. Was it all real? Was all that a nightmare? How was it possible I had been there before? I had no memory of the room.

“No!” I ran my hands through my hair, feeling for any sign of the strange liquid from the river. “Where is it? Where did it go?”

Nothing. Frowning, I turned my hands over. There were no signs of blood or cuts across my knuckles. “It was real. I felt it!”

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Trembling, I glanced around, only to realise I was back in my room, tucked into my bed with fresh sheets. Darkness was everywhere. Was it night? Had the curtains been drawn over? There was something different about my room, or was it me? I couldn’t focus on the objects around me. The outline of the dressing table and the cupboard was indistinguishable but a haze. Even as I peered down at my hands again, they distorted before my eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Over by the window, I could see the broad outline of a figure edging closer. “Dad, is that you?”

“No, it’s Kane,” Kane replied, slightly shaken. “You know... Your brother.”

He settled beside me, the bed sinking under him. I blinked a few times, but it didn’t make my thoughts clearer.

“Are you alright, sis?” he asked again.

I rubbed my eyes and stared blankly at him. Now, I recognised the familiar outline of his crescent-shaped ears and the broadness of his jawline, but not his eyes or the rest of his face. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

Kane reached for my arm. “Lucy?”

Crippling pain shot through my head. Screaming, I held my hands against my temples. “Ah, make it stop...! It hurts.”

“s**t, what’s wrong? What’s happening to you?”

“Make it stop,” I hissed, struggling against the paralysing agony. The room spun around me, making my stomach lurch. “Help.”

Kane withdrew a slight distance. “What the hell, sis?”

I closed my eyes. “It hurts, Kane. It hurts…”

“Take slow breaths,” he insisted. “It will help. And I’ll get you some water.”

He hurried out the door, only to return with a cup of water moments later.

“Drink this,” he insisted, placing the cup on my bedside table.

Following his advice, I breathed in slow and deep, waited for a moment, and then sipped the water. After what felt like hours, I could feel the tension loosening. Tilting my head slightly, I glanced up at him. I was grateful to find his defined face staring back at me.

“You’re not going to throw up… are you?” he teased. “I’ll get you a bucket. I’d rather you were sick in a bucket instead of on me, or you could pre-warn me so I can make a run for it.”

Something trickled down over my lips. Kane’s face drained of all colour, his thin lips pulling into a sober, straight line. I touched my hand to my nose and felt something warm against my fingers.

“God, you’re bleeding.” Kane cringed, taking a hanky from his pocket. He handed it to me. “It’s clean, I promise.”

Holding my head back, I pressed the hanky against my nose. The metallic taste of blood dribbled down the back of my throat.

Kane c****d his head to the side. “Far out, what brought this on?

I couldn’t find my voice to reply.

“Sis, can you answer me?” He stroked my shoulder.

Startled by his touch, I flinched away. A constant throbbing travelled through my sinuses. Even pinching my nose wouldn’t stop the pain.

Kane continued watching me. “Ah hell, that’s some kind of migraine.”

For a split moment, as I blinked slowly, the scenes from my nightmare came rushing back to me—the white room, the kaleidoscope river and the lightning sky. Then I saw Stacey.

“Ahh,” I cried, burying my face in my hands. “Make it go away. No, no... make it go away!”

“Hey, come back to me,” Kane called, shaking me back to reality.

Embracing the blanket tighter, I peered across at him to see his bewildered gaze upon me. “Where did the room go? Where did the river go... and Stacey...?”

“What room? What river? You’re in your room, at home, safe and sound.” Kane leant his face closer to mine. “And Stacey’s at the hospital with Mum... remember?”

“Stacey!” Grabbing his arm, I moved the hanky away from my nose and pulled him towards me. “Kane, I saw her in a hospital room hooked up to a life support machine,” I tightened my grip on him, “I couldn’t wake her… and I tried, truly I did... she wouldn’t move… she wasn’t breathing...”

“Shh, sis, it’s alright. It was a nightmare.” His look darkened. A frown folded the skin on his forehead. I realised he was prying my sharp fingernails from his arm. “You can let go now. It kind of hurts.”

I released his arm, my bottom lip trembling. “Oh, Kane, it was horrible.”

“It’s going to be alright.” He grasped my free hand in his. “Everything’s going to be alright. Stacey’s a fighter.”

A loud wail erupted from within me. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and cried. “It’s not going to be alright, Kane. Stacey’s dying. I saw it. I saw her tiny pale face—motionless. Dad was there. He showed me. Please tell me it’s not true. Please convince me... please!”

Kane shifted awkwardly under me.

I held him at arm’s length, pleading, “Kane, tell me it’s not true.”

Sighing, he kissed my head. “It was a nightmare, nothing more.”

Shaking my head, I cuddled into him.

“C’mon, sis,” he soothed, hugging me back. “It’s not real, I promise.” He held me back again. “Now dry those eyes.”

I didn’t reply. There was more to this place than he could understand. Even Dad had said I had been there before. Had I been to this place when I saw the dream about Dad’s death? I couldn’t remember.

“Oh c’mon,” Kane continued, his playfulness returning. “You’re a lot braver than this. You proved that when you killed that humungous Huntsman spider the other day. Just the thought of its beady little eyes, eww… and the way it scurries,” he shuddered. “If it wasn’t for you, I’m sure that thing would have eaten me alive!”

“It was only a spider.” I smiled slightly, then sobered. “But this nightmare was more… I know it was.”

Kane patted my head. “It was just in your head, that’s all…”

“But Dad’s dream was real…” I said with a sniffle. “How do you know this isn’t?”

Kane opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. He sighed. “Because it’s just a nightmare…”

“I don’t know if it is just a nightmare.” I eyed him sceptically.

“It was… Now say it with me…”

“It was only a nightmare,” I mumbled under my breath, but something inside me disagreed.

He smiled crookedly. “Again…”

“It was just a nightmare…” I repeated, emphasising the just part. “And I have more guts than my wimpy brother. Actually,” I straightened and grinned. “I do feel better.”

“Yep, that’s—hang on a minute.” Kane pouted at me with puppy-dog eyes. “I didn’t say I was a wimp… Do you really think that?”

“Well, as Dean would say, ‘only ninety-nine per cent of the time.’”

Kane examined my face. The corner of his mouth twisted. “You should come to work with me at the shop on the weekend.”

“Umm, why?” I asked.

“It’s an idea… to get you out of the house.” He studied the doubt in my eyes and nodded. “Ah, maybe it’s not your kind of thing… then again... having a girl working at a hardware shop could be good. It could bring more business, as most clients are male. Actually,” He grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I can never turn down a good opportunity to get more customers.” He patted my arm. “What do you think? Would you like a job... as a rep for the hardware store?”

“That’s crazy talk…” I teased. “You think I would work there?”

“Yep, I have no problem with you working for me, unpaid.”

Clicking my tongue, I shook my head. “I’ll pass. Anyway, Dylan won’t be too happy with the arrangement.”

“Alright, you can take Dylan’s job then, he’s expendable…”

Laughing, I shook my head. “No, Kane, but thanks for cheering me up.”

“Ah, that’s me for you. Now, no more tears…” He paused and gestured towards my face. “It looks like the bleeding’s stopped. You must be hungry.” Standing, Kane offered me his hand. Still a little shaky, I reached out for it. “Let’s go and see if Dean’s cooked something awesome.”