Free Wake of Darkness by Meg Winkler

another that was probably Zoey's. Up a second flight of stairs
were Jim's room, and then Alexander's.
     
     “And here is your room,” Catherina
finally said, indicating the next door. “Jim has already brought your things up
for you.”
     
    Sophie stepped inside the doorway
and let out a little gasp. It was beautiful. It was as if Catherina had stepped
into her mind and discovered exactly what she’d love. Everything was soft,
white on white textiles—a place she could really let her mind wander. Sophie
even had a towering bookshelf already quickly on its way to being filled with
books she suspected she would enjoy. Everything else in the room suited her
perfectly. They had really done their homework on her.
     
    “Those are from Alexander’s
personal collection,” Catherina said, watching Sophie examine the books. “He
believed that you would like them.”
     
    Sophie looked at Catherina
incredulously. Her mind immediately raced back to the man who she knew was probably
on the other side of the wall. “I really don’t understand.”
     
    “He is quite interested in history
as well, and can be a bit of a bookworm himself,” Catherina explained with a
weak shrug of her fragile shoulders and then looked away. “I am gratified to
see that you like it here.”
     
    Catherina turned to leave, but then
hesitated. She faced Sophie once more, as if she’d forgotten something. “I
shall leave you here to rest, since you seem to have neglected sleep last
night,” she added coldly. Without waiting for an answer from Sophie, she walked
off slowly, mumbling strangely to herself like a lunatic in an asylum.
     
    Now that she was alone, she didn’t
fight the yawns that had been threatening to make an appearance all morning. She
walked around her room, taking it all in, allowing her fingers to touch
everything lightly despite her lethargy: the cotton on her new bed, the satin
of the lampshade, the antique wood of the door and trim until she made her way
back to the bed and slumped down on it.
     
    She curled up and reviewed the events
of the past twenty-four hours slowly . Despite everything that had
happened, she felt strangely relieved.She didn’t know what to make of
it all, but for the first time in her life, she felt like she was somewhere she
belonged. She sighed and relaxed onto the bed and before she knew what had
happened, she had drifted off to sleep.
     
    *
     
    The sun traversed the sky into late
afternoon. Sophie awoke with a start, sitting straight up. Her fitful sleep had
taken up most of the day. It took her a few moments to get her bearings, but
once she had, Sophie hugged her knees to her chest and closed her eyes.
     
    For the first time since she had
been here, Sophie truly listened. She rocked back and forth absentmindedly as
she focused on everything around her. She listened so intently that she could
almost feel the others around her.
     
    And that’s when she heard it all .
     
    When she really listened and no one
was guarding their thoughts, she found that she could hear everything.
     
    She found Dante first. He was down
in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti for dinner. She was thrilled by the small
revelation and grinned at herself.
     
    She concentrated again and the
entire picture downstairs opened up to her as the information flooded her brain.
     
    Catherina sits on a stool in the
kitchen, watching her companion; watching him cook for his big family. He calls
her Rina; this is the name that only he is allowed to use. She smiles at him. They
are discussing when they think the other one might show up.
     
    Sophie smiled to herself. All
along, she just had to figure out how to become attuned to their minds. She
excitedly decided to try someone else and almost frantically searched for
another target; Jim seemed like an entertaining choice. Closing her eyes, Sophie
concentrated again until she found him. It didn’t take long. He and Alexander
were silently arguing somewhere in the house.
     
    So