CHAPTER I

 

 Jessica lay in bed and stare at his son. He should be asleep she thought.
Sinata was barely six months old and he had already taken his first step. He
was growing so fast, she thought.  She stare at the baby with his dark hair
and dark eyes, nothing about the boy reminded her of Puck at all.

  Ever since Puck died, it seemed as if no man would ever get near her. It
was as if she had the plague. The only person that stayed more than a day was
Bryce.  All the others would leave in the middle of the night like a scared
rabbit.  They would always say something about the feeling they get around
her son. She loved her son, but he sure could be a thorn in her side.

Sinata smiled a toothless smile at her, as he looked into his mothers eyes.
The look sent shivers down her spine. It was as if he knew what she was
thinking.  His small hand reached through the crib to her, and she took it in
her own hand and kissed it. Sleep reached her in a matter of seconds, almost
as if she had been drained of life.

Her dreams came fast, just as they always had. Most of the dreams lately
though had been nightmares.  Awful ones that made her wake up screaming.
Headless creatures, dark damp cages, the works. She'd wake up not wanting to
go back to sleep. When she returned to sleep finally, the dreams became
peaceful.

On this night though, she could hear other peoples screams as she saw two
cars collide in the rainy night. People stood talking along side the road.
She even thought she could recognize a voice or two.  Two men stood next to a
broken, bleeding body, but only one stood on shakey legs. The other man
seemed to be laughing. Laughin with one of those deep boomy laughs. Only she
could hear it though, it was as if he wasn't really there at that wreck.

  The laughing man moved aside, as if showing her the hurt person on the
dirty road. What she saw made her scream. She woke herself up, sweating and
with tears streaming down her face. It was just a dream, she thought.

  She turned over to look at her son, hoping looking at him would make her
feel better. The boy's smile lit up his face. He giggled and then turned away
from her. Had the smile ever left his face, she wondered.  She stood up and
picked him up out of the crib.  She suddenly had the urge to shake away the
smile off the baby when the phone rang.

"It's 3:30 in the morning!" Jessica yells into the phone.

"No hello? Jess, it's me Bryce." Bryce says to her.

"What do you want?" Jessica says, as she puts the baby back in the bed.

"I'm coming over." Bryce responded laughing.

"Now? You sure do pick the time." Jessica said as she
walked away from the baby she almost shook to death.

"I just want to see you." Bryce said. He stare at the rain coming down in
sheets.  He hadn't been to sure if the voices he heard were true voices. 
Why did they want him to go there.. WHY, he wondered.

"Are you drunk?" Jessica asked, as she walked down her stairs.

"Sober, hadn't had a drink tonight. " Bryce said, as he heard her sigh.

"I'll see you in a few minutes then." She said and hung up the phone. She sat
on her couch and swung her legs over the end, dangling her feet. She turned
on the TV, and wondered if she would see her dream in reality.

-------------------

Rachel and Dwayne didn't see the other car coming until it was too late. It
came so fast that neither of them had time to brace themselves for the
impact. Rachel's door flew open, the seatbelt she wore malfunctioning. Her
body flew a few yards to the side of the road.  Dwayne on the other hand,
stayed in the car. Without thinking he jumped out of the car and ran to find
Rachel.

"Rachel!!" He began screaming as he looked for her through the rain. 
Blood ran down his forehead, but washed away before it hit his eyes.

"Over here." A womans voice said to him.

Dwayne walked over to them and stood on shakey legs next to Rachel.

"Don't speak." The woman said to Rachel, as she noticed her trying to speak.
"Sir, are you ok? You have a cut on your head. Please sit before you pass
out."

"Is she going to be ok?" Dwayne asked, as he ignored the question about
himself.

"I don't know.  I called 911, I hope for her sake they get here soon."
She said, as she held Rachel's hand.

"Sar..."Rachel whispered as she struggled to speak.

Dwayne wiped away the blood from his face onto his sleeve. "Shhhh. don't
speak." He said to Rachel,  as he fell to his knees. He could know longer
stand on his throbbing ankle.

----------------------

Rachel could no longer feel her pain. Her mind blocked out everything except
for the black boots that were all too familiar to her. She couldn't see the
person in them, but she didn't need to to know whose they were. She tried to
tell Dwayne, but he didn't understand her meager attempt.

Was she hallucenating, she wondered? She tried to raise her head, but it felt
as if it was filled with led.  If only she could see the persons face, then
she would know. The boots turned and walked away as she heard sirens
approaching.  Sleep, she heard a voice say, and then a welcome darkness
enveloped her.

------------------

"Is she dead?" Dwayne groaned through his teeth. "Rachel?? Wake up!" He
cried. He wanted to shake her, make her wake up. The woman held onto him,
assuring him that she wasn't dead.

"She passed out i think, she's still breathing." The woman said, as the
ambulance finally made it to the scene.

Dwayne tried to stand again, and realized his ankle was broken. He watched as
the paramedics took care of Rachel. He had never felt so helpless in all his life.

--------------------------

Bryce watching the horrid scene in his rearview mirror hoping that non of his
friends had been involved in the accident. He wasn't one for going slow past
accidents, he'd probably read about it in the paper the next morning.  He
could still see the accident as he parked in front of Jessica's house. She
had sharp ears, he thought, as he saw Jess walk out onto the porch.

"MY GOD, what happened down there? "
Jessica squeeled, as Bryce walked up to her.

"A wreck."Bryce said trying to push her back into the house.

She turned pale and turned her attention to the wreck again.

"Woah, get in the house before you pass out."
Bryce said, as she leaned against him.

"I just dreamed about that." Jessica said as she turned to the closed door.
The dream pulsed into her head sharply for a few seconds, as she tried to
shake it out of her head. " The screams, the voices." She put her hands to
her ears, as if to block out the sounds.

"Maybe it all filtered into your dream? Maybe subconsiously you heard the
noises, the screams, the sirens. It happens." Bryce said, as he moved up the
stairs to find the baby. When he found him, he had no idea what he was
supposed to do. Would the voices come again, he wondered?

"Maybe." Jessica said, as she watched Bryce pounce up the stares.  "Did you
happen to see who was in the wreck?" She asked, as she began to follow him
up the stairs.

"I didn't study it as i went by." He said laughing. He looked around the
upstairs hall, thankful that Jess hadn't competely copied the house that had
burned down. He entered Jessica's room, and found the baby awake, and happy
to see him.

The baby smiled and stood in his crib clapping at the sight of Bryce.
"Hiiiii" The baby said with a giggle.

"What?? Did he just say something?" Jessica said with her eyes wide.

"First words?" Bryce said, as he reached down and picked him up. No voices
yet, he thought as the two of them looked each other eye to eye.

"Yes, I didn't know he was old enough to start speaking."Jessica said as she
watched the two of them together.

"I don't think they were for me...look." Bryce said as he watched the baby
wave at something unseen just ouside the bedroom door. He sat the baby back
in the crib and walked to the door. The sensation that someone was there was
strong. He stood there waiting for a minute, to see if he could hear the
voices.

 

<~ Back