Free Redefined by Jamie Magee Page B

shaking his head. “They went home and no one could hold them if they wanted to. In order to trap them, they would have to have known who they were, and you have clearly explained to me that they have staged false lives.”
    My soul was at war. Part of me wanted to grasp these images in my mind, believe that my parents were safe, that I would rescue my brother as planned and move on to save this reality. The other part knew that evil was holding my family as hostages.
    “I would love to believe you, but I’m going to wake up in a bit, and all my problems will still be there.”
    “You want to wake up now, fine. Let’s rock and roll, sweetheart.”
    He nodded his head, and I felt a bolt of energy wave over me. My eyes closed, and as they did I saw not only those forgotten memories of this place, but also the mark on my back...flashes of this life, of growing up with my overworked mother came to me...her caressing my back, outlining it with her nails as she put me to sleep when I was young – it all seized my breath.
    That Fall or whatever came into view once again. I could see Cashton racing after them, my father reaching for his shoulder. Just before he wrapped his arms around my mother, a blinding light consumed them. I screamed in my dream, trying to catch my mom, trying to tell my dad to wait – and that scream chased me into my waking moment. I rose up from a bed, gasping through the last part of it, trying to figure out where I was.

 
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    This room was a bedroom, obviously. I was on a bed. Oddly, every wall, floor to ceiling, was bookshelves. Thousands of old books stared back at me. The energy of them, the stories they held singed the air with brilliance. To my left in an oversized chair, I saw Draven. His hooded eyes were dark as night. To my right, I felt someone sit on the edge of the bed: Madison.
    Hovering over my head was Cashton. “So now that we are awake, can you bother to believe me?”
    “He’s not here,” Madison mumbled, closing the book in her hand and leaning toward me from the edge of the bed.
    Frantically, I looked between her and Cashton, wondering if we were talking about the same person.
    “Where am I? Am I still dreaming?” I managed to say between gasps, noticing how dry my mouth was.
    “Not anymore,” she whispered as her concerned green eyes took inventory of my demeanor. “This is August’s home.”
    “Who is this?” Cashton said with approval in his tone as those eyes of his moved over her image.
    I glanced from him to Madison. She was acting like she could not see him, even though he was feet from her.
    “Chara,” I murmured as I fell back and covered my eyes with the palms of my hands.
    Madison scooted closer to me. “Are you all right? You look like you have seen a ghost or something.”
    “Or something,” Cashton said with thick humor in his voice.
    “Madison, do you think we’re alone?” I asked quietly, trying not to look at Cashton - to play into this psychotic break.
    “Hardly.”
    I sighed, only to see Cashton smirk.
    “This family is relentless. Almost too nice for my blood,” Madison said, glancing at the closed door that must lead to the rest of the house.
    “She can’t see me unless I want her to, and I don’t simply because I have no idea what you have gotten yourself into,” Cashton said as he crossed his arms.
    “I’m not the one that misguided my descent and landed in the veil, rendering myself with next to no memory,” I bit back.
    Madison’s eyes grew wide for an instant. “Charlie, you all right?”
    That made Cashton laugh and me blush.
    “No. Odd dream that is all too real at the moment.”
    Her eyes expanded, trying to see it. I made no effort to hide anything.
    “What is that? How come her eyes are darker?” Cashton asked in disbelief.
    “It’s called seeing. We see the living, too.”
    “Figures,” he mumbled.
    “Umm...yeah, we do - but I see nothing of that dream. Tell me about it,” Madison