45
Jennifer opened the door to let Heather in.
“You look tired.”
Heather shrugged as she settled down on the couch across from Mark. “I’m exhausted. Mom and Dad found me sitting up in bed about two a.m. Apparently, I was having some sort of nightmare, dreaming with my eyes open. It really freaked them out.”
Mark paused between bites into his cream cheese bagel. “Christ. That would freak me out too.”
Jennifer scowled at her brother.
“It’s okay, Jen,” Heather said, a sad look settling on her face. “That’s exactly what I thought.”
Mark looked like he’d been kicked in the stomach. “I’m sorry. I was trying to make you feel better, not worse.”
Heather’s smile was weak. “It’s not your fault. I’ve been feeling terrible since it happened.”
Jennifer moved onto the couch beside her friend, wrapping an arm around Heather’s shoulder. “So what happened next?”
“Nothing, at least not right away. But, this morning, I heard Mom and Dad talking quietly about setting up an appointment with a doctor.” Heather’s face tensed. “I’m afraid he’s going to order an electroencephalogram or a CT scan.”
Mark gasped. “But if they do that…”
“Exactly,” said Heather. “They’ll spot the difference in my brain activity. They’ll discover our secret.”
For several seconds complete silence reigned. Just then, Mrs. Smythe walked into the room. “What are you kids up to? I can’t believe Heather is over and you didn’t even tell me.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Mark and Jennifer’s voices merged into a single apology, something far from uncommon for the twins.
Linda Smythe laughed. “As if it was the first time. Can I get you kids something to eat?”
“No thanks.” This time the three voices merged as one.
For the barest instant, Linda Smythe looked hurt. Then a broad smile spread across her face. “Peanut butter sandwiches?”
Mark, Jen, and Heather exchanged glances.
“I guess we could go for that,” Mark said.
“Good.”
Mrs. Smythe disappeared into the kitchen. In what seemed like an incredibly short period of time she was back with a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“Thanks, Mom,” said Mark.”
“Yeah, Mrs. Smythe,” said Heather.
“My pleasure.” Seeing them all staring back at her, Mrs. Smythe straightened and turned away. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave you to your private discussions.”
Heather watched Mrs. Smythe depart before turning back to her two friends. “Sorry to bring you guys down with me. I just couldn’t deal with this on my own.”
Mark stood up. “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t you come to us? Haven’t we always been there for each other?”
“Of course we wanted to know,” Jennifer said. “My God, Heather. We’re all in this together.”
Heather smiled. “Thanks guys. You’re the greatest. But I’m really scared. It’s not just the doctor thing either. Last night’s dream wasn’t the first. I’ve been having them pretty often, usually when I’m awake.”
“What do you mean, when you’re awake?” Mark asked.
Heather sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll be doing something, and the next thing I know, it’s like a déjà vu moment, like a rewind. Only part of it wasn’t real, just a waking dream.”
Jennifer’s eyes narrowed. “And before the rewind, what do you see?”
Heather stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the couch. “I’m not really sure.”
“You can’t remember?” Mark asked.
Heather stopped. “That’s not it. I remember just fine. It’s like I’m seeing the future or something, not the distant future but something that is about to happen very soon.”
“And does it come true?” Jennifer asked, leaning forward.
“Yes.” Heather’s chest felt as if it had been wrapped in chains. “Not exactly the same as my vision, but so close that it’s unreal. Close enough to scare the crap out of me.”
Mark chewed his lower lip. “Maybe it’s another side effect from the Second Ship. We’ve already experienced some amazing things.”
“Seeing the future?” Heather shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s what’s really happening,” Jennifer said. “Think about it. Each of us has had our brains turned on to the max. You already had savant mathematical abilities. Maybe this is just an extension of the mathematics.
“Three-dimensional computer games are done with math. What if your brain is just working out the probabilities of stuff happening and painting a 3D picture of the projected outcome for you?”
Heather started to answer but paused. Something about what Jennifer hypothesized had a ring of truth to it. After all, it had been weeks since mathematical equations had dominated her thinking. The thought that perhaps her brain had moved to the next stage of development had already occurred to her.
“I know what you are becoming.”
The thought of what the Rag Man had said in her dreams leaped, unbidden, into her mind. Heather shook her head to clear the thought.
“If that’s true, then how do I stop it?”
Jennifer shrugged. “I don’t know, but right now, that’s not our biggest problem. We can’t let the doctors discover your abnormal brain activity.”
Just then, Mark interrupted. “I have an idea. Do you remember when I tried the biofeedback meditation using the medical table on the ship?”
“You mean when you almost stopped your heart?” Heather asked.
“I didn’t almost stop it. I just slowed it way down. With the biofeedback I was getting from the medical table, I was able to adjust my body response.”
Heather sat down again. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that if I could do that, we might be able to learn to relax our brain activity so that it appears normal.”
Jennifer clapped her hands. “Brilliant.”
Heather rolled the thought around in her mind. With superior biofeedback like they got on the medical table, it might just be possible to learn how to do that. More than possible, it felt probable. She stood up and headed toward the door.
“I’m going to tell Mom we’re going for a bike ride. I’ll meet you out front in ten minutes.”
Jennifer shook her head. “Better make it twenty. I want to look up some information on the Internet about what normal CT scans and EEG readouts look like.”
“Good idea.”
As the screen door slammed shut behind her, for the first time in days, Heather felt a glimmer of hope.