Paranormal Summer (Indigo Moon Rising) (27 page)

"Oh yes, I am fine. Thank you!" Sonya said in a voice that was too tranquil.

Jillian and Ryan got up and looked at her, she was smiling, acting high, too relaxed, like she was in La-la land. "Yo Sonya, you in there?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, silly!" she replied and kept rocking, as she was looking out at the horizon and then up at him. “You are so handsome! Hot, yes and hot, too!” She giggled. “Yes, I will go out with you, and I promise to be good, very good.”

"Did she eat something we didn't, like poppy seed dressing, or smoke something, and we didn't see her?" Jillian asked, becoming seriously concerned.

"I don't think that's it," Ryan said, "That would not explain the cold we just experienced. Hold her arm," he said, as he put his hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

Jillian held her forearm and closed her eyes. She saw blackness. Then a black mist started to form from the ground in front of the porch. It crept its way up the steps and turned white, clinging to the floor, moving to each of the rocking chairs. It split into three, two were white, and one was purple. Like the cold that came over them a little bit ago. She and Ryan were in the white mist; Sonya was in the purple mist. What was it?

Ryan let go of Sonya's shoulder. "Nothing, I didn't see anything. That is totally unusual. I see things all the time," he said.

"I saw the three of us, and you and I were in a white mist that started from down there,” as she pointed from in front of the stops, “And Sonya was in a purple mist. What would that mean?" Jillian asked ,as she knelt down next to Sonya.

"I don't know, but why don't you guys go on home now," Ryan said as he got GG and helped Sonya into the truck.

On the way home, Sonya was still acting weird. “
Maybe it was all that good food,”
Jillian thought. GG dropped them off at the B&B, and Sonya went in to say good night to her Grandma Hilde. Then she and Jillian went to the servants’ quarters.

Sonya unlocked the door, took off her shoes, walked directly into her bedroom and was greeted by Lucky, who hissed at her, even showing his teeth, his tail all bristled, "Whoa, it must be the farm smells," Sonya said as she crawled into bed.

Jillian pulled the sheet up over her and looked at Lucky. “
What is the matter?
” she wondered.  

Sonya lay there. Lucky walked up to her, very slowly, almost as if he were unsure it was her. Finally he lay down, curled around her head. Jillian turned off the bedroom and living room lights, checked that the door key was on the kitchen table, locked the front door from the inside and pulled it shut. She walked down the dark path and thought, “
Could it get any stranger than this?
What was the purple mist, and why was it just around her. Whoa, why didn't Ryan see it? I was the only one that saw it. Did I make it up?”

She walked to her summer home, wondering what it would be like living here all the time. “
I wonder what the kids are like. Probably not as many as there are at Bailey High School back home. They are probably easier with the curriculum here, though. Not so strict, probably not talking about uniforms, either.”
She hated the idea of having to wear a uniform that mimicked everyone else to school.  She didn't want to be a show-off or stand out, but she wanted to be comfortable
. “God knows school and its drama is stressful enough
.
I wonder what they were talking about, getting homeschooled here. Were they serious, or were they teasing me?
“

Jillian decided to sit in the moonlit garden for a while before she went in. The toads, tree frogs and crickets were all singing. She could see the bats’ silhouettes in the air. The scent of honeysuckle blew in the slight breeze. She relaxed and decided that this was a marvelous time to just ‘be.' Closing her eyes, she began to feel the physical edges of her body expand outward and then become nonexistent. She was just consciousness.

"You know you are never alone," she heard.

"Yes, I know, but I seem to forget," she answered.

"Maybe if you can remember to always ask for guidance, you will make it a habit. Help is always here, but you have to ask. If you find something to help you to remember to ask, it will come naturally," the voice said.

Jillian saw a bracelet in her mind's eye. "What if I had a bracelet? I would always know it was there, and I would remember to ask."

"Try it. We will be with you every moment," she heard.

Opening her eyes, she had an idea. She went on into the house and into her room. She picked up Tiffany Marie and hugged and kissed her while she stretched and yawned. On the dresser was a small jewelry box. Inside was a neon green wristlet. She pulled out a Sharpie from the desk and sat down with Tiffany Marie.

"Tiffany Marie, I am going to make a reminder for myself. It is going to say ASK." So, all the way around it she wrote ASK with a heart in-between each word, and a halo above the A's.

"This is so I can remember to ask for guidance when I need help!" she said, slipping it on her wrist and picking up Tiffany Marie, who said "Meeeowww."

As she got ready for bed, she thought about what she was going to write in the journal. This had been another extremely full day. All the information they got from GG and Lois, Lois and the cancer, Sonya had seen it. The guy who wanted to use their investigation for his show and asked if they wanted to be a team. The necklaces Sonya made for them. The weird mist and how Sonya acted. The voice that talked to her in the garden.

She lay down on her bed to start writing. Tiffany Marie walked up on her butt and made herself comfortable. Jillian giggled. She could feel her purr from there! She wrote and wrote, amazed how it all seemed effortless. She was getting pretty tired, so she thought she'd stop for a minute or two.

Blurriness. Can't see straight. She felt like she couldn't keep her eyes open. Eyes open... water. Eyes closed, eyes open...houseboat. Eyes closed, eyes open... look up, it's so blurry, W..A..R..E... eyes closed. Eyes open... lights on the water.

"JILLIAN!" Sonya had screamed her name.

Jillian was jolted into the reality of her room. She was still on her bed, pen in hand, journal in front of her. Her heat was beating so fast. Something was wrong with Sonya.

Jillian put Tiffany Marie in her basket, pulled on some clothes and ran upstairs to her aunt’s room.

"Aunt Jana, Aunt Jana, please wake up," Jillian begged as she shook her aunt’s shoulder.

"What's the matter?" her aunt said as she started to sit up.

"Something's wrong with Sonya," Jillian said shaking her head, tears in her eyes.

"Oh honey, it was just a dream, wasn't it?" her aunt asked, putting her arms around her.

“Oh my God...was it a dream? I don't know any more what's real,” Jillian thought
. “Focus, focus, relax. Sonya, where is Sonya?”
She started seeing the light, the water, the boat
.

"No, I don't think it was a dream. Please, can you take me over there? I need to check," Jillian explained.

"Okay. Give me a minute," her aunt said as she grabbed some clothes from the bathroom.

Uncle Tim rolled over. "What's going on?"

"Jillian thinks something's wrong with Sonya. We are going to check," Aunt Jana explained.

Aunt Jana and Uncle Tim quickly got dressed. When they got to the car, Jillian wasn't there. They shook their heads and got in. They knew she must have taken off on foot, so they headed to the B&B.

Jillian ran up the dark walkway to Sonya's. The front door was wide open, and the living room light was on. Lucky was sitting on the couch yeoling. Jillian ran into Sonya's bedroom where she left her, and all she found was an empty bed. She tried calling Ryan, but there was no answer.

She heard something in the living room. She ran out there, but it was Aunt Jana and Uncle Tim.

"She's gone," Jillian took a deep breath and focused. "Where is there water and a houseboat? That's what I see. Ripples in the dark water, a yellow houseboat, and the word WHAR?"

Aunt Jana and Uncle Tim shook their heads. "Houseboat and water would be on the river. W-A-R-F could be wharf? It's just a few minutes away," her uncle said.

"That's what it feels like. Where? Can we go look?" Jillian said, desperately worried about her friend.

"Let’s go down by the river and see what we can find," Tim said, turning on his heel.

Aunt Jana grabbed his shirt, "Should we wake up Hilde?"

"No, we don't have anything to tell her," Tim said, heading out the door.

Jillian turned off the light and shut the door, leaving poor Lucky all alone. There was no one to tell what he saw.

Jillian, Jana and Tim got in the car and headed for the river. They didn't see a light turn on in the B&B. They didn't know that someone had woken up and sensed the urgent situation. They didn't know that Ryan had just woken up from a terrible nightmare and had tried to call both girls, but to no avail.

As Uncle Tim was driving to the river, Jillian kept seeing the same images over and over.

She tried to relax and breathe. “But time is of the essence,” she heard. This was Amanda's voice. “
Amanda, please help me, I have to find her,”
Jillian thought
.
“Follow your tum-o-meter, and you will find her.” Jillian looked as they pulled onto the road that ran parallel to the river. “
Please, angels and spirit guides, please help me to know where she is,
“ Jillian said in a whisper. Uncle Tim kept driving. When they crossed one intersection of an alley, Jillian felt like she got punched in the gut and was going to be sick.

"There, go down there," she pointed as she grabbed her stomach.

As they got closer to the docks, Jillian saw the dark rippling water, and the yellow house boat. "Stop the car!" Jillian jumped out and ran over to the dock where a large, old building stood. When she looked to the left, there was Sonya sitting on the ground, propped up against the building. WHAREHOUSE were the letters above her head. "Here she is, here!" Jillian screamed. Uncle Tim ran to her and checked her pulse. Aunt Jana stood by the car and called 911. Uncle Tim said, "Sonya," loudly a number of times and slapped her face. She was like a noodle.

"Ambulance is on its way," Aunt Jana said, running towards them. "What is she doing here?" she asked, kneeling down and holding her hand. "She's cold. Go get a blanket from the truck," she instructed her husband.

The sound of the siren a block away jolted Jillian back into reality. It was kind of a blur. Uncle Tim rode in the ambulance. Aunt Jana drove to the hospital while calling Doreen, who would take Grandma Hilde to the hospital. Jillian was stunned. Such a strange feeling, like her consciousness was bigger, and yet she was such a tiny piece of the whole puzzle.

She sat in the white hallway, with white floors, and white lights, watching people dressed in white walk by. She was leaning against her aunt, who had her arm around her. She heard a few of the words the adults had said, but not much. They hadn't said she could go in and see her now. That was the only thing she wanted to hear. She sensed something, and looked up. Ryan was walking down the hallway towards them. He took Jillian's hand and led her away.

"What happened? I tried calling both of you, and I went to Sonya's, and Elise told me she was here," Ryan said, holding Jillian's arms.

"I had a dream. She screamed my name, and she showed me pictures. We went and found her. The doctor said it's alcohol poisoning, most likely moonshine. They pumped her stomach, and she's on fluids. Why would she do that? She's not stupid enough to drink. I don't understand," Jillian said, burying her head in Ryan's chest.

"I don't think she knew. I had a dream, too. It was about Deryk. It was like Miranda was watching him, pulling strings like he was a puppet. And then I saw him with his back against a mirror, but when he walked away, he split into two. And then he looked at me, pointed and said “Jillian's next.” And then I saw a black mist, floating down the mountain, pushing everything out of its way, and it was engulfing the town. People were inhaling it and falling to the ground.'