Free Catch Me When I Fall by Vicki Leigh Page B

mean there
are
other supernatural creatures out there?”
    “I wouldn’t worry about that.” Just about every story about a supernatural creature was grounded in something real, but I wasn’t going to tell her
that
.
    She gripped her stomach. “So, you stand guard over me while I sleep and protect me from nightmares. Like, you invade my mind and stop them from happening?”
    “No. They’re actual creatures. Contrary to scientific belief, a Nightmare isn’t developed in the human brain. They’re the result of demonic creatures that grab hold of you while you sleep and force the images into your head.”
    Kayla stared at me, her eyes wide and her face pale. Then, to my surprise, she covered her mouth and laughed. “Oh my god. This is insane.” She paced the room again. “I’m crazy. I have to be crazy.”
    “You’re not crazy.”
    “Only crazy people have randomly appearing people telling them they’re not crazy. I am definitely crazy.”
    “Stop saying that word.”
    Her eyes squinted, as if she was sizing me up. Then she grabbed a pastel off her rocking chair and chucked the crayon at me. I caught it, and her eyes widened again.
    She held up her pointer finger, opening then closing her mouth. My eyebrow raised.
    “First,” she said, “you have freakishly good reflexes. Second, if I was imagining you, that would’ve gone through to the wall, right?”
    “Yes.” I set the pastel on the bed.
    Slowly, she walked across the room and poked me, hard, in the chest. I rolled my eyes when hers widened. What would it take for her to believe me?
    “Okay, let’s say I believe you,” she said, backing away. “Then, no offense, but you’ve done a pretty crappy job of protecting me.”
    “Well, I have only been your Catcher for a few days.”
    “Yeah, and last night was probably one of the worst ones I ever had.” Her eyes flicked from me to the floor then back to me, filling with tears.
    She might as well have kicked me in the stomach.
    This had been a mistake. I never should’ve attempted to be anything other than I was—a spirit. “You’re right. Last night was brutal, and I wasn’t able to keep you safe. I simply wanted you to know that I was the one responsible and to apologize for the fright my misstep gave you. I promise you’ll never hear from me again.” I stood.
    She stepped toward me before I had the chance to evaporate. “No, don’t leave.” Her face whitened. Was she afraid to be alone?
    Kayla wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry if I insulted you. I’m just not used to… you know.”
    “What?”
    “Knowing that something I’d seen was actually real.”
    I shifted my weight, aching to tell her how she
had
burned her attacker alive and how she was not a loon, but the words wouldn’t come out. It felt like too much after all I’d shared already.
    Kayla watched me like she was trying to put together a puzzle. Her eyes framed with red, and I stared into them, lost in the sunlight glow of the gold around her pupils.
    “So, you said
everyone
has one of you?” she asked.
    I nodded, her voice breaking me out of my stupor. The really evil humans, like Jeffrey Dahmer didn’t, but there was no point in getting into technicalities.
    “And you’re usually invisible?”
    Again, I nodded. “We can choose to show ourselves, but our battles with the Nightmares are on the other side of the veil.”
    “On the other side of the what now?”
    “The veil. It’s like a curtain that separates the living world from the dead. If you have the power—like me—you can go from one side to the other.”
    Her eyes widened again. Any more talk of dead things and I was going to scare her away for sure.
    “Look,” I said, “I need to meet up with the other two Dreamcatchers who will be with me tonight. But, can I meet you for lunch tomorrow? Maybe we could eat in the garden?”
    She bit her lip and gripped the hem of her shirt. “Um… yeah, I guess that would be okay.”
    I