At that moment in time, they were truly one as she sent her thoughts spinning back to the clinic where her mom had taken her years before.
Once again she saw the children playing with the toys scattered about the floor. And the parents in the seats around the room, watching.
Last time she and Jake had only sent their minds here. This time there was an added dimension. To her astonishment, she and Jake were actually standing at the side of the room. It was impossible, but it was happening. They were like two ghosts invisible to everyone around them.
Everyone?
She struggled not to gasp as a little girl looked up at her and Jake. As their eyes met across the space of eight feet–and twenty-five years–she went rigid.
The child looking at them was the little girl Rachel. She tipped her head to the side, studying them with a bright curiosity that made Rachel’s chest tighten. Confronting her earlier self like this was the strangest thing she had ever done.
Quickly, she looked down, relieved that in this scene, the shirt she’d been wearing earlier was back on her body.
Relief gave way to panic when she tried to speak into Jake’s mind, but found she couldn’t do it.
“Yeah, strange,” Jake murmured. “In a lot of ways.”
“You can’t talk in my mind, either?”
“No.”
When the girl spoke, Rachel’s focus shifted back to her. “I never saw you here before. Who are you?” she asked.
“Visitors,” the adult Rachel answered.
The girl looked back at her mother, who was talking to one of the other women.
“Do I know you?” the young Rachel asked.
“You will when you grow up.”
“And then I won’t be alone?”
Rachel’s heart squeezed at the question and the wistfulquality of her child’s voice. Even back then, she’d known that feeling of separation from the rest of humanity.
“It’s going to turn out okay,” she whispered, hoping she was telling the truth. Well, at least the part about Jake was true. If they could just find a way to defeat all the forces bent on destroying them.
In the vision, Jake pressed his shoulder to hers, and she leaned against him, grateful that he was here with her and she didn’t have to face this strange situation alone.
“You’ll find someone really special,” she whispered to her younger self.
The girl’s gaze flicked to Jake. “Like you have?”
“Yes.”
The young Rachel nodded solemnly.
As if aware of something out of the ordinary going on, Mrs. Gregory looked over at her little daughter, and Rachel pressed her lips together.
“Is something wrong, dear?” her mother asked in an anxious voice.
“No,” the child answered quickly. She gave the adult Rachel one more look before turning back to the toy farm on the floor in front of her. She was playing with an intensity that told Rachel she was still interested in the visitors, but she didn’t want her mother to ask her any more questions.
Jake reached for Rachel’s hand, and together they edged around the room, heading for the door. But the closer they got, the harder it was to make any progress. It was like they were underwater, pushing against a strong current that had flowed there to keep them back.
“It’s resisting us,” Jake muttered.
Rachel tried to answer silently, but that was still impossible.
