Free Desire in Frost by Alicia Rades

constrictor was wrapping its body around my skull and trying to crush it. I clutched at my stomach because in that moment, it felt completely empty. I thought Teddy believed in me. How could he say that about my gift?
    My breath returned to my body. “She had an older sister! Did you know that?” I was shouting now. It was the only thing I could do after the way he was making me feel, like the biggest part of me didn’t matter to him at all, like I was stupid and untrustworthy, like he didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say.
    “What? Hope? See, Crystal, that’s why I can’t go chasing after her. You were wrong about the man earlier, and you’re wrong about Hope now. She was an only child.”
    I was momentarily struck dumb by this information. I knew I couldn’t be wrong about this again, yet something in the back of my mind left me worried that I was. I managed to find my voice again. “She’s dead, Teddy. Penny is dead, and she told me where to find Hope.” I didn’t even care at this point that Gail was hearing all about my abilities. All I knew was that I had to find Hope.
    “I assure you that Hope was Melinda and Scott’s only child.”
    I took a step back. I couldn’t believe he was treating me like this. He didn’t believe a word I’d said.
    It brought worries to the forefront of my mind and made me wonder myself. Their only child? That can’t be right. Was Penny having me run after a different girl named Hope? I blinked a few times as I processed this information.
    My tone finally returned to its normal volume, but I spoke through gritted teeth. “Either way, there’s a girl named Hope four hours from here who needs rescuing.”
    Teddy stared at me with an apologetic expression on his face, and then he spoke quietly. “Crystal, I’m sorry.”
    I knew that was the end of our conversation, although I wasn’t entirely convinced that he was sorry. I stormed back through the enclosed porch and down the steps toward the beach. I took a seat in the sand and curled my knees to my chest while I sobbed into my arms. I tucked my head in close to my body, trying my best to make myself as small as I could to reflect the way I was feeling.
    How could Teddy not believe me? He was the one who had asked for my help. I had assumed he believed in me. He’d said he had some heightened intuition of his own, so why was he pushing everything we both believed in away? Or was that the problem? Had my mistake made him so afraid of his own intuition that he no longer wanted to accept it as truth?
    Several long minutes later, a hand touched my shoulder. I jerked up in surprise, ready to retaliate. I let my body relax when I saw that it was only my mother. She sat by me on the sand and pulled me into an embrace. I sobbed in her arms. I tried not to since it seemed like I’d been doing so much of that lately, but I couldn’t help it. Someone was out there who needed my help, and I was only going to fail again.
    “I’m sorry, sweetie,” my mom said after a few moments.
    “Why didn’t you back me up?” I asked, pulling away from her and looking into her eyes. I wiped at my tears in an attempt to calm down.
    My mother’s mouth opened like she was going to say something, but then she shut it. “I’m always here for you,” she finally said. “I don’t know exactly what you’ve seen, but I want to encourage you to go wherever your gift takes you. I don’t usually get feelings about family members and people close to me, but I know that wherever you go, your abilities will keep you safe.”
    My tears nearly subsided in response. She was actually taking my side.
    She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Look, I talked to Teddy and suggested that you get some time away from the house today to think things over. I thought maybe you and Robin could go shopping or to the movies or something. He said he’d gladly take you. So, um, here are the keys to the car, and here’s my credit card if you find