Insight (10 page)

“Being angry didn’t get me very far. I can feel them. They’re sorry for what they did. They had to have had their reasons. If we want to know why we were kept apart we need to listen to what they have to say.” I said, staring up at him. “I don’t want to fight with them, I just want my family safe. I want to be with you. I want to understand why I’m the way I am.”

He squeezed my hand. “I will never let you want for anything, Willow. I can be calm, I will bring our family home, and spend the rest of my life showing you how remarkable you are. I’ve ached for you every day of my life, you’re my everything.”

I reached my arm around his back, and pulled him close. “You’ve already given me the world Landen, you’re real. The only real fear I ever had was that you would stay lost in a dream. I can deal with anything now that I know that.”

Even though I had the insight of emotion, that I could feel him more intensely than my own soul, the look of utter devotion in his gaze took my breath away.

It should be illegal to feel as euphoric as I did at that moment.

Chapter Five

Ashten was slowly pacing the living room floor. My parents were leaning against the bar that separated the kitchen and the living room. My mother gasped when her eyes met mine, then they moved slowly to Landen’s. I felt her overwhelming happiness, and without a word, she walked over to us and embraced us both. Landen shyly hugged her back, refusing to lose his hold on me. Standing behind my mother, my father reached his hand out to shake Landen’s hand. His relief to see Landen at my side was more than obvious in his eyes; it was as if his watch over me had ended.

“I’m proud to meet you, son. I couldn’t ask for a better person than you to love my daughter. Your father is an honorable man, and I’m sure that you are as well.”

Ashten had stopped pacing and was staring at Landen with a deep sense of pride and sorrow emanating from him. He looked in his son’s eyes and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

Landen nodded, briefly. I felt his respect for his father outweigh his anger. I tightened my grip on Landen, letting him know that he was doing the right thing by remaining calm. He looked down at me and smiled faintly.

“I have found her now that’s all that matters. We need to leave now,” he said, looking back at his father.

Ashten cautiously, stepped forward. “Son, we have to take them all. Libby may have been the only one in the dream, but you know just as well as I do that he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants,” he said, staring at the dread in Landen’s eyes.

“What is he talking about? What dream?”
I heard Landen say.

“I had a nightmare. Drake was there…Libby disappeared.”

As he pulled me closer, I felt Landen’s sense of urgency grow; he realized why I wanted Libby to go with me. “I will lead them both.”

Ashten glanced at my father; both of their expressions matched the confusion coming from them.

“Landen,” my father said softly, “were you just speaking to Willow?”

Landen nodded; now the confusion was coming from the both of us.

“Did she answer you?”

“Dad, of course I did…what’s wrong with you guys?”

“Are they always like this?”
I heard Landen say.

My mother seemed to have figured out what was going on. Meanwhile I was getting angry with the three of them.

“Landen, Willow, you’re not using words,” my father said in a tender tone almost as if he was expecting this revelation.

My breath left me and my heart pounded in my ears as I tried to comprehend what they were saying. I felt Landen’s emotions swarming out of control, blending with the awe, fear, and respect coming from our parents. There was no way that that was possible. I couldn’t read minds, and I didn’t want anyone to be able to read mine. I turned crimson as I tried to remember if I had thought anything embarrassing around Landen tonight or even before.

I listened closely to see if I could hear Landen’s thoughts, but I heard nothing. I closed my eyes.
“Landen, can you hear me?”

“I can.”

I looked up at him.

“Do you hear everything, or can you only hear me when I’m talking to you?”

“I guess when you’re talking to me,”
he thought. As his eyes raced over my face, the connection, the love that we felt, seemed to overcome the initial shock.

“Do you think this is bad? I mean, is this common in Chara?”

His profound stare screamed
no
loud and clear.

“What is this, Dad? How are we doing it?” I asked, stumbling over my words.

I could tell that he was searching for words to answer my questions. “All right, we all need to just have a seat and talk this through.”

We all followed my father to the kitchen table. Landen and I sat side by side, and he held my hand under the table, his piercing blue eyes judging his father’s every move.

My father glanced at my mother, trying to size up her take on what she was seeing, then he nodded in Ashten’s direction for him to begin. Ashten sighed as he gathered his words, first looking at Landen, then settling his eyes on me.

“The first people to our world, the woman Aliyanna and the man Guardian could speak without words, and they shared each other’s dreams,” Ashten said.

Landen moved his head slowly from side to side, and his eyes drifted down to me. He knew this story. His disbelief told me so. Ashten went on. “They were both born in Esterious. Aliyanna held a power that could move the universe, and the priests in Esterious tried to gain control of it. When they failed, they pushed a force of energy at Aliyanna and Guardian, who was trying to protect Aliyanna. The force of energy used against them pushed them into the string, and once there they found their way to a different dimension: Chara. When their children grew up, Aliyanna and Guardian taught them the paths in the string so they could find the ones that they were meant to be with. Couple by couple, our world was born. Now everyone has to leave to find the one that they’re meant to be with.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

The tension in the room was so thick that I could barely breathe.

“There has never been another couple with the same insights, and you both are children of our dimension,” Ashten answered quietly trying to get me to see the obvious that was still blind to me.

“So…is this bad or good?” My voice cracked.

Ashten and my father exchanged weary glances. It was obvious they were keeping something from me. The room grew silent, and the strain between Landen and his father intensified within seconds.

Suddenly, Landen stood up. “Your silence gives me reason to leave now,” he said, gently pulling me to his side.

Ashten stood and said, “Landen, it took you two days to get here, do you want to put that little girl upstairs through that? We need to wait for the storms to grow calm, or at least for Livingston and Marc to arrive.”

“You know Livingston? Who is Marc?
” I asked, using our new gift.

“Livingston is my uncle, and Marc is his son,”
Landen answered in the same manner.

Landen looked into my eyes, then to the stairs that led to where Libby was playing. Through his emotions, I felt him weigh each consequence. He then sighed and calmly sat back down, and the room filled with relief.

Slowly I sat down next to Landen, trying to place all the names and faces with the story my father had told me.

The tightness in the room was broken when Libby appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Is it time for dinner? I’m hungry,” she asked as she walked down the stairs, smiling innocently at Landen. It was like she knew him and loved him already.

“Yes, dear. We were just deciding what we’re going to have,” my mother answered. “Let’s all have some dinner and get some rest. I’m sure everything will be clearer in the morning.” She seemed to have brought our conversation to a peaceful end.

My father and Ashten excused themselves to the back porch—I’m sure to discuss Landen and me in private. Libby walked over to Landen’s side and slid her small body under his arm. They stared at each other, and the emotion between them seemed familiar to me, like I’d felt love between them, the love only a family could have. Libby reached her tiny hand to Landen’s face, and when he smiled at her, she giggled. It was a joy like I’d never seen from her before.

“I like the name Landen. Do you like the name ‘Libby’?”

“I feel like I know her. How does she know my name?”

“It’s her insight. She started using it today. She doesn’t know that she has it yet.”

His eyes filled with disbelief.
“It has to be more than insight,”
he thought quietly.

“I do. It’s one of my favorites,” he said, humoring her.

“Is Willow your princess?” Libby asked, looking back and forth between us.

“Yes, she is,” Landen agreed with a boyish grin.

“I told you princesses have green eyes,” Libby said, crossing her arms, proud of her prediction. She then looked at Landen and said, “Daddy wants to talk to you.” Landen looked down at his watch, and we waited as the seconds ticked by. Fifteen seconds later, my father opened the door.

“Landen, can you come out here please?”

Landen reluctantly stood, kissed the top of my head, and walked to the door, peering at me through the glass as he closed it. As their conversation began outside, I knew they weren’t saying anything upsetting because calm came over the cabin.

When dinner was ready, Landen and our dads came back in; the calm emotions were still with them. For Libby’s sake, the conversation had no stories of other dimensions. Instead, we listened to stories of my father and Ashten’s childhood. I felt closer to my father. I’d never realized how little I knew of him before my mother came into his life.

As we cleaned the kitchen after dinner, I could feel how happy my mother was for me. She would look at me, then to Landen, who was playing a card game with Libby. Little did she know, he was timing her responses.

Ashten walked into the kitchen, followed by my father. “I think we all need our rest. It’s been a long day, and a longer one awaits us. I’m going to sleep in the living room in case anyone makes it through tonight. I don’t want any false alarms,” Ashten said to us.

My father walked over to his medicine bag, pulled out a white tube, and handed it to me.
“This is for the burn on his shoulder. It will get infected if he doesn’t treat it,” he said, glancing over at Landen.

“You’re hurt?

“It’s nothing
,” he thought.

I raised my brow, doubting his words, but he just gave me a playful grin.

“Good night,” my mother said over her shoulder as she carried Libby up the stairs.

I left Landen in the living room. I could tell that he wanted to talk to his father. I stopped in Libby’s room to kiss her goodnight. She was already sleeping; it had been a really long day. I didn’t realize how hard the trip had been on her. It made me realize how fragile she really was.

I changed quickly into my pajamas—some simple cotton shorts and a white T-shirt. I then noticed my sketchbook lying across my bed with Landen’s portrait facing up. My mother must have brought it up there. I pulled out the photo album the girls had given to me, wanting so badly to tell them all about Landen, about the boy that had stolen my heart without uttering a single word.

I scooted to the center of the bed, turned to the sketch of flowers, and placed it next to a picture of the five of us. I realized that our lives were now like the flower: all original, beautiful, and living side by side, yet unaware of one another.

Feeling Landen coming up the stairs, I glanced to the hallway and saw him stop at Libby’s room. As he gazed in and watched her sleep, I could feel his confusion and turmoil; I wondered what he was thinking. He then looked down and sighed before walking to my room.

“Are you okay?”
I thought when he got closer.

He smiled at me, walked over to the bed, and slid by my side.
“What happened? Why is Drake looking for you?”
he thought.

I looked down at my wrist to the star that rested in the loop of the Ankh. Landen followed my gaze, then looked back up at me, panicked and angry.

“I didn’t see his face when I dreamed, but I’m more than sure that Drake did this.”

I felt relieved that I could finally talk to Landen about all of the odd things I’d endured.

His anger rose so high that I could see the heat behind his dimples. I knew then not to tell him that Drake had been in all my nightmares.

“How did he do it?”
he thought.

“He just touched me,”
I thought, remembering the pain of the burn.

“You told your dad, and he decided to run home,”
he guessed.

“He saw the star, then left. I never told him what happened.”

“That was four nights ago, right?”
Landen thought, sitting forward a little.

I nodded.
“Why?”
I asked, seeing that was important.

“Four days ago, Livingston came crashing into my father’s house and pulled him away. They left, and only my father came back. He told us he’d found Jason and needed help bringing his daughters home,”
Landen thought.

“They found my dad a long time ago, when I was six. My dad said they knew Drake was searching for me and had decided to stay there until I was older,”
I corrected.

“This doesn’t make any sense,”
Landen thought, running his hands through his dark hair.

“Did you know about Drake? His parents, Adonia and Justus?”
I asked.

Landen nodded, stiffening his jaw.
“I’ve seen Drake. Marc and his brother, Chrispin, lost their mother that day. That’s all we talk about…when we are alone,”
he thought, looking down.

His thoughts grew silent. I folded the album closed, set it on the side table, and reached for the sketchpad. When I picked it up, Landen slowly touched my arm and reached for the pad, pulling it closer and looking at the details of the flowers.