I kept running, the knife still in my hand, until my lungs started to burn, and I had to slow down. I turned back to look in the direction of Kean’s house, but no one came after me. Maybe I scared him enough he’d leave me alone from now on.
I sunk down onto the sand, unable to believe how I’d let him fool me. I really thought he was a good person, but it was all a front. Sally put him up to it with a juvenile bet. She didn’t dislike me because Kean had a crush on me, she simply hated me because she was a vile human being.
Tears trickled down my face as I thought of how stupid I’d been not to see through it all. The sound of the waves washed over me, instilling a small measure of calm. This beach had become a haven over the years, a place where I could walk and think when I needed to be alone. It was the only place I wanted to be in this moment.
The shock of seeing Kean’s true face had me feeling all twisted up, but that wasn’t the main thing that was bothering me. My head was still scrambled by Noah’s confession. He’d been to prison.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Why else would he have perfected all those fake personalities? And why would he be so comfortable breaking into Principal Hawkins home? Noah was a criminal. It unnerved me how much I still liked him despite this. What was wrong with me? Did I have some dodgy wiring in my brain?
I was being torn in two different directions, and I didn’t know which path to take.
One urged me to run as far away from Noah as I could get, join a convent and let go of the desires and curiosities holding me captive.
The other wanted me to run straight into Noah’s arms, accept whatever crimes he’d committed in the past and surrender to the strange, mysterious draw he had over me.
I closed my eyes and dragged my hands through the sand, sinking my fingers in deep.
Let go of me! Please, I’ll drown!
I jolted to a start, opening my eyes and looking around. No one was there. The beach was completely deserted, so where had that voice come from? It sounded eerily familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. There was an echo to it, a boxy quality that made my skin crawl. It was like the voice was fighting to break through the barriers of space and time. The same as the ones I heard in my dreams, only now I was wide awake.
You deserve to drown. You’re a curse on this household.
I jolted again and stood abruptly, my skin crawling. I didn’t want to hear any more, so I hurried back to the house.
Was I losing my mind?
Hearing voices was one of the first signs of madness. And most of my dreams weren’t like normal dreams. I wasn’t always watching some story play out that was a manifestation of my waking consciousness. Instead my dreams were glimpses into events from the past. I didn’t want to accept it but deep down I couldn’t deny it was the truth.
I had an ability.
Noah’s bike was missing from the driveway, and I was disappointed he wasn’t at home. Not because I wanted to interrogate him about being in prison, but because it’d be nice to have someone to talk to about Kean and Sally’s bet, someone to comfort me.
Would he be angry about it? The thought of him being furious on my behalf made me feel slightly better about the whole thing. It was nice to think someone genuinely cared about me.
I was on my way to my bedroom when I stopped dead in my tracks. The hall was dim, with only a dank wall lamp to light it. Sylvia’s bedroom door was open, and she sat up in bed, staring at me in the dark. Fear gripped me, and I didn’t know why. I’d never been frightened of Sylvia, and it wasn’t like she could do anything to hurt me physically. Yet, there was something intrinsically creepy about the way she just sat there, staring.
I considered asking her if she wanted me to close the door, but I was too freaked out to speak. Instead, I continued upstairs to my room and locked my door.
Maybe I was just unsettled from those voices out on the beach, and that’s why seeing Sylvia scared me. Feeling the need to cleanse my mind, I knelt by the bed and prayed.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …
Saying the Lord’s Prayer centred me. Right now, my faith was the only constant thing in my life. Everything else I struggled to understand, especially these strange occurrences that wouldn’t quit chasing me.