Chapter Eighteen
"Damn it! She's not breathing!" a familiar male voice boomed in Kylie's ears, and she wanted more than anything to answer him. She tried to move but couldn't. She still felt paralyzed.
Help me. Please ...
"She did this once before." That was Della talking now, but panic filled her voice. Della never showed panic or fear. To the contrary, the vampire was fearless.
"Kylie, wake up!" the deep male voice said, and this time Kylie recognized it as belonging to Lucas.
Suddenly, Kylie's lungs opened up and demanded air. She opened her mouth and gasped and started coughing as if her lungs wanted to reject the oxygen. Rolling over on her side, she continued to cough, certain she was going to blow a lung. Finally, she opened her eyes and realized she was on the kitchen floor in her cabin.
After a few more seconds passed, the coughing stopped and she focused on breathing. Someone grabbed her and pulled her up into their lap and held her. Heat surrounded her. He was hot. So hot. And she was cold. So damn cold.
She focused on the face of the person cradling her so tenderly. So close. So warm. And his eyes were so blue. Lucas.
Then his face faded and she saw a strange woman's face moving close. The feel of Lucas's arms around her seemed like a memory that time was pulling away a little bit each moment.
"She stopped breathing again!" Lucas shouted, and he started rocking her. "What do I do? Someone tell me what to do!"
"Holiday says she'll be okay."
Kylie recognized Burnett's voice, but it seemed to be coming from somewhere else, from someplace far, far away.
"Holiday thinks she's probably having a vision. That sometime..." His voice faded into the background.
The vision yanked Kylie back completely, and she watched in horror as a group of women brought something up to her face. Only it wasn't her. She was experiencing Jane Doe's life, but it felt as real as if it were happening to her.
She felt a thick, nubby towel being forced against her mouth. She gasped, tried to move, but couldn't. She-Jane Doe-was paralyzed, and someone was smothering her.
The unfairness of it stung her throat as her lungs begged for air. Everything went black and then she saw the spirit standing over her. She leaned down, her blue lips frosted over. "They killed me. They really killed me," she said. "You must breathe, though. You must live."
Kylie's lungs screamed for oxygen, but she felt unable to gasp for the air she needed. Then she became aware that she was back in her kitchen.
Kylie heard Miranda chanting in the distance. She heard Della muttering that Lucas should give Kylie CPR. And Burnett kept asking questions to Holiday over the phone.
"Breathe, damn it!" Lucas yelled.
She pressed her forehead tight against Lucas's bare chest and pulled big swallows of oxygen into her throat. Tears filled her eyes, and she cried for the life that had been so brutally taken. Cried for the woman whose name she didn't know. Cried for the woman who, in addition to losing her life, had lost her child. How unfair was that?
"She's breathing again," Lucas said, cradling her tighter in his arms. "And she's crying." He dipped his head. "Shh," he whispered for her ears only. And then he said to the others, "I'm taking her to her bed. She's so cold."
Kylie felt herself being lifted in his arms. She vaguely recalled that he'd been the one to carry her to the bed that night weeks ago when she'd had the vision of Daniel, and for some reason, it felt right him being here now. It felt right when he lowered her on the bed and then crawled in beside her and held her against his chest, with his arms around her. And being so tired, too emotionally spent to talk to anyone, it especially felt right when she fell asleep with her head pillowed on his warm chest.
* * *
Unfortunately, when Kylie stirred awake a short while later, still curled up in Lucas's arms, Burnett, Miranda, Della, and Lucas all stared at her in shock and concern, and it felt a bit like getting caught French kissing a boy in public. It didn't feel so right.
She pushed off his chest, brushed her hair from her face, and gazed at all her onlookers, who stared at her as if her head might start spinning or something. Didn't they know their own abilities and powers were just as weird to those who didn't have them?
The words You okay? and a couple different variations of the same question came from all four people.
She nodded. "I'm fine."
"She's awake and says she's fine," Burnett said into his cell phone, which he held to his ear. "Yeah, I'll have her call you as soon as she's able."
Kylie recalled hearing Burnett talking to Holiday. "I'm sorry," she said. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to apologize. What happened wasn't her fault. Though she still wasn't sure exactly what had happened, beyond her getting caught in a vision about Jane Doe's death. Still, she supposed it was a good idea to apologize for causing a scene in the middle of the night.
She looked at Burnett. "How did ... Why are you...?" Embarrassment fluttered in her stomach. "Was I screaming so loud it woke the whole camp or something?"
"No. You hardly screamed at all this time," Della said. "I woke up when you were walking around the kitchen, muttering and, well, screaming just a bit. When I went to see if you were okay, you were, like, totally out of it. I mean, the lights were on but nobody was home kind of thing. You weren't here."
"Yeah," Miranda said, moving in. "And I woke up when Lucas was trying to bust down our door saying he had to check on you." Miranda looked at Lucas. "How did you know she was having another one of her dreams?"
Lucas didn't answer, and Kylie recalled that she'd been dreamscaping with him when the vision had started. Had he seen it, too? He must have if he ran here.
"I ... uh..."
Kylie figured he didn't tell them they were dreamscaping because he knew she probably wouldn't want him to share that with everyone.
"It wasn't a dream," Kylie answered, hoping to shift the question from Lucas. "It was a vision."
"That's what Holiday says, too," Burnett said, sitting in a chair beside the bed. When Kylie glanced at him, he added, "I was walking the camp when I heard the commotion and I came running."
Kylie nodded and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was almost three in the morning. "You guys should all be in bed asleep. You should go."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Burnett asked.
"I'm fine," Kylie said, and she was fine. At least she thought she was, but she needed to figure out what the vision meant without an audience.
"Holiday wants you to call her," Burnett said.
"I will," Kylie said, and the words scratched her raw throat.
Burnett nodded and waved for Lucas to follow him out. But Lucas stayed sitting on the corner of her bed. "I want to talk with her just a second," he said.
Burnett looked at Kylie, and when she nodded, he started out. "Keep it short."
"Do you need us?" Miranda asked, and stifled a yawn.
"No, you two go to bed. I'm okay. Thanks." Kylie watched both Miranda and Della walk out, and then she looked at Lucas. He was frowning, his brow crinkled and his blue eyes filled with all sorts of concern.
He leaned in a bit and spoke low. "Are you sure you're okay? That was freaky."
"You saw it, too?" she asked.
"I saw you being pulled away by two guys. But then all of a sudden it wasn't you. It was some other woman. And then it was like you disappeared in a cloud. I woke up, scared shitless, and I ran over here to make sure you were okay. When I got on your front porch, I heard you walking around and I guess I lost it." Fear flashed across his face. "Does this ghost vision stuff happen all the time?"
She wondered if he knew she was equally frightened of him turning into a wolf. "No. Not all the time."
"What is it? Why does it happen?"
Kylie hesitated. "It's the spirits' way of showing me what happened to them."
"The spirits who are haunting you?" He looked mortified and even glanced around as if thinking they were there.
"Yeah. But you can relax. She's not here now." She settled back against the pillows. And then, "It's not as bad as it seems." She recalled how helpless she'd felt in the vision. She recalled the horrifying sensation of being smothered to death, and her heart hurt for the ghost. Okay, maybe it was as bad as it seemed, but if it helped the spirit pass on, then Kylie would do it.
Kylie's phone rang. It startled her until she remembered she was supposed to call Holiday. "I should ... It's probably Holiday," she said.
He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. "Call me if you need me."
She watched Lucas go and reached for the phone. She didn't check the caller ID. She just assumed it was Holiday. Who else would be calling her at three in the morning? But she assumed wrong.
"Are you okay?" Derek's voice filled the line, and the image of him shirtless in his bed, with the covers pulled to his waist, filled her head.
Her cheeks flushed. "I'm fine. How did you ... know?"
"You came to me," he said. "In a dream."
"I did?" she asked, and bit down on her lip and stared at her lap. Had she returned to Derek and not known it? She saw Socks crawl out from under the bed and leap up to be with her. No doubt he'd been scared of Lucas.
"You were here for only a second and then you left."
She felt a little better. "Oh yeah. I realized what was happening. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"I wouldn't have been disturbed," he said, sounding disappointed. "I thought maybe you'd come to me because you needed something."
"No. I'm still learning how the dreamscaping works. I woke up ... there."
He paused. "So you don't need me?"
"No. I'm fine." She closed her eyes and tried not to let the caring sound of his voice lure her into wanting things she couldn't have. He was with Ellie now. Or maybe not with Ellie. It didn't matter. What did matter was that he'd ended their relationship. He hadn't even wanted to try to fix whatever it was that made it hard for him to be with her.
And she'd moved on. She was with Lucas-maybe not actually going out, but practically. And he'd been here for her. He wanted to be here for her.
"Okay, I just ... wanted to check on you. I do care about you, Kylie." His voice dropped, and for a moment he sounded like the old Derek. The Derek who'd cared about her. The Derek who'd have done anything to make her happy. "You know that, don't you?"
She swallowed before answering. "Yeah," she said honestly. "I care about you, too." And then she forced herself to ask, "How's Ellie doing?"
He was quiet for a second, as if he knew what she was doing. Reminding him that they were just friends. "She's good. Adapting."
"Good," Kylie said. "I met her briefly the other day. She seems nice." And very pretty. She bit down on her lip.
"She is nice," he said.
"Yeah. Well, I'm happy for you." Kylie wasn't sure how true it was, but she wanted it to be true, and for that reason it didn't feel like that big of a lie.
"I told you we're not really together," he said, sounding frustrated.
"Yeah," she said, and when he didn't say anything else, she decided to do the right thing. "I need to go. I'm supposed to call Holiday."
"Okay," he said.
She disconnected the call and pushed away the melancholy. She did need to call Holiday, and then she had to figure out what the ghost had meant her to learn from the vision.
* * *
Even though she was sleep-deprived, Kylie called her mom first thing the next morning. She had to know what happened.
"So?" Kylie dropped back on the bed.
"So, what?" Her mom sounded as if she were still sleeping.
"Was it a business lunch or a date lunch?"
"Oh. It was..." Her mom's pause told Kylie more than her mom probably wanted to share. "It was fun."
"How fun?" Kylie tried not to let her emotions leak into her voice as she knotted a handful of sheet in her hand.
"Just fun. I enjoyed myself, that's all. I don't mean ... It's not as if ... Look, baby, we had a good time, but I'm not sure anything will come of it."
"He didn't ask you out again?" Kylie petted Socks, who had jumped up to get some attention.
"He said he'd call. But you know men always say that. And they never do."
Kylie tightened her hold on her phone. "If he calls, will you go out with him?"
"I don't know," her mom said. "Oh, someone's knocking on the front door. I'd better run." The line went dead.
Kylie sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion nobody was at the door. Her mom just didn't want to talk about it. Not that she could blame her.
Seconds ticked by, but Kylie didn't move. She just lay there, stretched out on her twin mattress, staring up at the ceiling. Ambivalence filled her chest. Did this mean her mom and her stepdad would never get back together?
* * *
A quick shower later, Kylie walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her to find Miranda standing attentively in the hall, as if waiting on her.
"What's up?" Kylie asked.
"I'm your shadow," Miranda announced proudly.
"I thought Della-"
"You don't think I can protect you?" She held out her pinky. "I have powers, girlie."
Actually, Kylie had doubts about Miranda's protecting abilities, but she wouldn't dare say that. "No, I just remember Burnett saying it was Della this morning."
"She went to her sunrise ceremony and I'm supposed to get you to the office, where Della will meet us in about five minutes. So let's go."
Kylie looked down at her towel. "Can I get dressed first?"
"Someone's not a morning person this fine day." Miranda made a funny face, and Kylie took off to her room to get dressed.
A few minutes later, they walked out the cabin door. Miranda turned back to the door, waved her arms around, and began to chant. The last time Miranda did that, she felt unwanted visitors; it turned out Mario and Red had been hanging out, watching Kylie.
"What are you doing?" Kylie asked. "Do you sense someone's here again?"
Miranda frowned. "A little." She pinched her right thumb and forefinger together.
"A little?" Annoyance snaked through Kylie. "How can you sense someone here just a little? I mean, they're either here or not, right?"
"Don't wig out on me," Miranda said. "I just got a feeling and I thought it couldn't hurt to do a protection spell."
"Have you told Burnett?" Kylie asked.
"I was going to but I'm kind of scared to talk to him alone after..." She flushed. "You know."
The memory of a marsupial Burnett hopping around the dining hall, dodging Clark's fireballs and Perry's dragon breath, flashed across Kylie's mind. Hence, part of the reason Kylie doubted Miranda's ability to protect her.
"Anyway," Miranda went on, "you said Holiday would be back today. So I figure I'll just tell her then."
Kylie rolled her eyes and wanted to point out that if Miranda was right and there were intruders, Burnett needed to know ASAP, but she bit her tongue. A few hours probably wouldn't matter all that much. Besides, Miranda had a point; she was in a bad mood this morning, and it wasn't fair to take it out on Miranda.
As for why Kylie was in a bad mood, well, she figured her bad mood probably hinged on the fact that she was running on only a few hours' sleep. She and Holiday had spent almost an hour on the phone talking last night. They'd discussed everything from Holiday's aunt's passing to Kylie's vision and what it could and couldn't mean. When Kylie asked her about the healing powers and the whole "giving up a piece of her soul" issue, Holiday suggested they wait until they could talk about it when she got back today.
Kylie had almost told Holiday about her misgivings with Burnett over the FRU library card issue but decided to wait and discuss that in person, too.
Miranda did one more wave over the door, pulling Kylie back to the present.
"Do you mind if I tell Burnett?" Kylie asked Miranda.
Miranda made a face but then said, "Fine. But I'm telling you, it's just a feeling. It's not nearly as strong as the last time I had one. It might not be anything."
"Or it could be something," Kylie said. And since that something probably had to do with her, it made her a wee bit nervous. And face it, she had enough to be nervous about.
* * *
Kylie stood in front of the heavy, creaky-looking rusted gates of the Fallen Cemetery. Burnett stood to her right-and Della held her spot to her left. Neither vampire looked especially happy to be there.
She couldn't blame them. She wasn't all that thrilled about it herself. But after experiencing the vision sent by Jane Doe, Kylie was more eager than ever to get this spirit sent on her way.
"You sure you want to do this?" Della asked, her voice laced with fear.
Kylie nodded, but in truth she wasn't sure about anything anymore. She took a look around. If Hollywood ever needed a set for a horror film, this was it. As if to prove her point, a gust of wind picked up and the gate swayed and creaked. The eerie sound filled the air.
Air that should have brought with it a sunny mood to match the morning. Above them, blue, cloudless skies promised a picture-perfect day filled with cheer. A vibrant sun beamed down and set the last of the night's dew in a sparkle. And yet nothing felt sunny, vibrant, or cheery.
To the contrary, it felt cold-so cold that Kylie's skin crawled with goose bumps. Della let go of a deep breath and steam billowed from her lips.
"I used to hang out in cemeteries sometimes," Della said. "They never felt like this." She hugged herself against the chill.
"The dead don't disturb humans nearly as much as they do supernaturals," Burnett said. Even his voice sounded hesitant. He looked at Kylie. "If you're at all worried about doing this, just say the word and wait until Holiday is here."
Kylie considered it and then remembered the pain, grief, and confusion the ghost had felt. Jane Doe needed answers as much as Kylie did.
"No. I'm fine."
"You're lying," Della said.
"I know." Kylie looked at her and then over to Burnett. "You guys don't have to come inside."
"We don't?" Hope filled Della's voice.
"The hell we don't," Burnett snapped, and took a step forward. "If you're determined to do this, let's get it over with."