Free Visions: The Mystical Encounter Series (The Mystical Encounter Series Book 1) by Kimberly Readnour

afraid; they would probably find him soon. Surely he wouldn’t be behind it.”
    Pain, mixed with shock, dispersed across Barry’s face making it difficult to process. I hated accusing that Barton guy of a heinous crime, but I just couldn’t shake off the skepticism coming from that house.
    With an attempt to ease Barry’s mind somewhat, I offered, “Maybe he isn’t behind it. Like I said, I have nothing solid.” My eyes narrowed as I glared at his house, adding, “I just wish there was some way of getting inside there.”

~8~
    Betrayal
    “I’m glad we have a chance to talk,” Barry’s friend, Nicole, said as we sat down at the cafeteria table. Our class ended a few minutes early which meant we had time before everyone else showed up for lunch. I had already gone through the lunch line, while she staked out our usual spot. With an eyebrow raised, I held my breath as she continued, “It’s important to go to the police.”
    The surrounding acoustic level dropped about thirty decibels as the blood drained from my body in hesitation of her next words.
    “Because they could help find what happened to Johnny,” she continued with a hushed undertone.
    The word Johnny whispered out of her mouth confirmed my fear and betrayal. It felt like a dagger thrust into my back. Shocked beyond words, I didn’t know whether to be angry or hurt. How could he do this to me? What was he thinking? What was I? I knew better than to trust anyone other than myself. What a fool I was for putting my faith in him only to have it thrown in my face. A complete fool. I just got used to the idea of having somebody trustworthy in my life. Someone that was dependable, but now…‌I should have known better. In real life those people didn’t exist. The balance between friendship and trust I craved was nothing but a pipe dream. Truth, reality bites. Everyone was self–centered and pushed along their self–agenda. Yeah, I was leaning more toward anger right now.
    “Oh…‌Don’t worry,” Nicole quickly added, realizing by my expression that I was anything but pleased. As much as I tried remaining as stoic as possible, the anger must have shown because she suddenly became nervous. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone because Barry warned you wouldn’t want people knowing yet. What you can do is incredible, believe me, and I do hope you’ll be able to find out what happened to Johnny. I just think you should get the police involved.”
    It took all of my willpower to sit there and listen to her ramble on about the police and Johnny. I wanted to get up and walk away, but in her defense, the fault wasn’t hers. No…‌the fault belonged to Barry. I bit my bottom lip to prevent blurting out words that I might regret later and let her ramble. When I had enough, I replied very slow and very precise, “We can’t involve the police until there’s more to go on. Right now I don’t have enough adequate information to contribute anything useful.”
    “But…”
    “Besides,” I rudely interrupted, not caring in the least what she was about to say. “It’s hard convincing them about what I can do. First, they have to halfway believe in clairvoyance before they’ll listen. It isn’t easy.”
    “We can get them to listen. My uncle was lead detective on Johnny’s case. He’ll understand, I’m sure of it,” she replied rather suddenly. My anger wavered at the enthusiasm embodying her voice. But then she lowered her gaze as her face fell. In a voice just above a whisper, she added, “Just promise me when the time is right, you’ll go. I hope Johnny’s disappearance can be solved, but what I really want is his murderer behind bars.” Her eyes began to glisten making me wonder what her connection to him had been. Obviously she must have been close to him, which I guessed was the reason Barry told her.
    With my anger subsiding towards Nicole, I softened my tone, replying, “I’d like that, too.”
    A gentle smile broke across her lips