The question jerked Aden from a long, dark tunnel, slamming him into something solid. A brick wall perhaps. His mind was not as quick to reach the wall as his body, so his awareness was gradual. Where was he?
He blinked, the world coming into focus little by little. He sat in a plush leather chair. All around him were bookshelves overflowing with books. In front of him was a desk cluttered with files and papers. To his left was another leather chair, this one occupied by a man with blue eyes, a beard and glasses.
“What’s going on?” Aden asked, the words garbled. Was he tanked? He didn’t remember drinking.
“We’re in my office, having our session.” The man smiled indulgently. “Have you forgotten already?”
“Office? Session?” He drew in a deep breath, slowly released it. As the air left him, his memory seeped into center stage. He’d been at Mary Ann’s house. Victoria had been looking at his neck with hunger. He’d spied a photo, picked it up. Eve had recognized the man.
I’ll take you to him, she’d said.
Eve.
His molars ground together. Obviously she’d tossed him back in time just as she’d threatened. But to when? Where?
He surveyed himself. Ugh. He wore a plain T-shirt, his scrawny, needle-ridden arms poking out of it. There was a sharp, persistent pain in his side. His pants had holes in the knees.
“Aden, is something wrong?” the man asked him.
“No, no,” he said, because it seemed like the safest answer. He probed his side, wincing. Were those…stitches? “I’m fine.”
“You’re still healing,” was the gentle reply. “And if you want to keep healing, you have to leave the wound alone.”
He forced his hands to settle in his lap.
We’re here, Eve exclaimed happily. You’re eleven. Do you remember this office? The doctor?
Eleven. The year he’d been forked by one of the other patients at the institution where he’d been staying. Dread sprouted wings and flew through him. “The doctor…” he said.
“Yes, Aden?”
His cheeks heated at having been caught talking to himself. The doctor. “Dr….” He couldn’t remember the man’s name. He was youngish, even though he had a beard—which was probably meant to make him look older. Tall, on the lean side.
“It’s Gray.” A patient sigh filled the void between them. “Dr. Gray.”
He stiffened. Dr. Gray. Mary Ann Gray. Mary Ann’s…father? He pulled the photograph to the front of his mind and compared it to the man beside him. Take away the beard and the glasses and the two men were an exact match.
He could have freaked out. He wanted to. But he remained where he was, as if rocks held him down, trying to absorb the shock of what he’d just learned. All those years ago, he’d had a connection to Mary Ann, albeit indirectly, and he hadn’t known.
I tried to tell you we knew her, Eve said.
Well, what d’you know, Caleb said.
“I know who you are,” Aden told the doctor, more emotion than he’d intended in his tone.
Dr. Gray only smiled. “I should hope so, Aden. Now let’s get down to business, shall we?” He propped his elbow on the armrest of his chair and peered over at Aden, expectant.
“I—yes,” he said, though he wanted to shout No! A thousand questions rushed through his mind, but he couldn’t ask them. He had to be careful to appear eleven years old, to answer as he had the first time this meeting had happened.
Losing his favorite foster family the last time Eve had done this wasn’t the worst thing to have happened. He’d woken up from that trip in a home he hadn’t recognized, with people he’d never seen. That “memory loss” had earned him another stay in another mental hospital. Everything you do earns you a stay in an institution.
Sometimes it did seem that way. Upon his return, Eve had promised never to transport him again. Of course, she’d promised that before. Her exuberance always outweighed her qualms, he supposed.
Unlike those other times, though, he couldn’t work up a good anger. To see eleven-year-old Mary Ann, to know if she dulled his powers, even as a child, might be worth any price.
Where was she now?
Did Dr. Gray know she was able to mute other people’s unnatural abilities? Would he freak if Aden asked? Probably. How much would Aden’s future change if he did? Would he ever meet Mary Ann?
Ah. There was his anger. White-hot, bubbling. If this session changed his future so much that he hadn’t moved to Crossroads, hadn’t met Mary Ann or Victoria…
I sense the direction of your thoughts, Elijah said. I wish I could reassure you, but…
Great. He was going to have to do his best to remember every little thing he’d said and exactly how he’d said it. Did eleven-year-olds talk like babies or grown-ups?
“Aden?”
He’d lost the thread of the conversation already; he’d have to be a lot more careful. “Yes?”
“I asked you a question.”
“I’m sorry. Will you repeat it, please?”
“I will, but I expect you to pay attention for the rest of our time together. All right?” Only after he nodded did Dr. Gray continue. “There have been reports that you’ve been arguing loudly with people no one else can hear. So I ask again, are you still hearing voices?”
“I—I—” How had he answered this? “Uh, no.” He wouldn’t have told the truth. Would he?
“Are you sure?”
Aden focused on the University of Oklahoma Department of Psychology diploma framed proudly between the bookshelves. More calmly, he said, “Yes, I’m sure.”
Dr. Gray frowned over at him. “We’ve had several sessions together, but you always keep me at a distance, telling me nothing more than what can be found within your file. This is a safe space, Aden, where the truth will never be used against you. I hope I’ve proven that to you.”
“You have.” The memories of this day, hazy though they were, finally began to flood him. Dr. Gray had been unbelievably nice to him, and for once, he’d been eager to please. “I just—I—I hate this place. I want to leave.” There. Now they were on the right track.
“Where would you go? I’m not asking to be cruel, but to make a point. No foster family will have you right now. Everyone thinks you’re dangerous, so you can’t be allowed to play freely with other children.”
Normal children, he meant. There were kids here, but they were all supposedly crazy like him.
“Has someone hurt you?” the doctor persisted. “Is that why you want to leave? Did you have another argument with a patient?”
Silent, he kicked out his stained tennis shoes.
I brought you here for a reason, Eve said. I don’t care what the others say. Ask him what you’re dying to know.
“I just want to go back to the ranch,” he said, ignoring Eve. Then he blanched. For a moment he’d forgotten to stick to only what he’d said the first time he was here.
“Ranch?” Dr. Gray sighed again. “To my knowledge, you’ve never lived at a ranch. For now, this is your home. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it has to be.”
Ask him about Mary Ann, Eve insisted.
Don’t do it, Ad, Julian said. I’m happy with the way things are and don’t want them to change.
I mean, we’re close to having a girlfriend, Caleb added.
“Aden?”
Dr. Gray. He had to backtrack to remember the direction of their conversation. Had he argued with any of the other patients, was what he’d been asked. “Uh, no. Everyone stays away from me now.”
“Oh, really?” The doctor tsked under his tongue. “I know a few of the patients cornered you yesterday. I know they threatened you, someone hit you and you retaliated. If the orderlies hadn’t stopped you…Listen, it’s okay, whatever you’ve done, whatever’s going on,” he said softly. “You can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, son. I only want to help you. Let me help you. Please.”
“I—”
Ask him, ask him, ask him! I won’t shut up until you do. Eve, proving stubborn.
For God’s sake, what if he wakes up in another state, no Mary Ann, no Victoria, Elijah said, angry. I hate what Mary Ann does to us, but he’s finally out of the hospitals and off the drugs they used to feed him.
You’re the psychic, Caleb said. Tell us what will happen if he questions the doctor about the girl.
I told you, I—Elijah stopped abruptly, and everyone held their breath, waiting for him to continue, knowing he’d just gotten something. Several minutes passed, an eternity in which Aden once again lost track of what the doctor was saying. During that time, Elijah gasped, groaned.
“What?” he finally asked, and as Dr. Gray repeated whatever he’d been saying, Elijah said, You know I usually only predict death but lately I’ve known, well, more. And right now I know that if you mention Mary Ann, one of two things will happen. Dr. Gray will flip and leave you sooner rather than later. You’ll never meet Mary Ann. Or Dr. Gray will flip, still leave as planned, but take an interest in what you’ve told him. If the second happens, you’ll indeed meet Mary Ann—and one of us will be freed.
Eve gasped. One of us will be freed? Who? And how?
I don’t know. I wish I did, but…I’m sorry.
If one could be freed, that had to mean they all could be freed. He would have everything he’d ever wanted. Peace, a happily ever after for his companions. A normal life with his new friends. Of course, that normal life wouldn’t last long, since his death was steadily approaching, but a mere glimpse of such a life would be better than never knowing it at all.
But, if the other alternative happened, he would have none of that. He wouldn’t even have Mary Ann’s friendship. Would he even go to Crossroads, Oklahoma? Would he ever meet Victoria? he couldn’t help but wonder again.
He wanted to take some time, figure out the best course of action, maybe sleep on it and weigh the pros versus the cons. That wasn’t how this worked, however. He would return to the present the moment this session ended. He didn’t have the luxury of time.
