“Where are we?”Mercy mumbled sleepily.
“We’re almost there.Bout 50 miles to go until we reach Jasper Springs.”
The voice was a deep timbre, yet soft spoken.
Cautious.
“Hey,” he said, but I could not see him.All I could see was darkness, save for the flashes of lightning.
Who was this man she was talking to?
Why did she sound...off?
Was she drugged?
“It’s going to be okay, you know.We’ll be okay.I promise,” he said smoothly.
The way the man spoke was soft and loving.
Full of longing.
The green lights that lit the way pulled me elsewhere, somewhere much brighter.
I could see Mercy in the distance, hugging someone, but I couldn’t make him out.
All I could see was he was tall, looming over her.
I took a step closer, the air around me cold as I tried to get a better look.I was alone, no sign of Valory.
Why was she not here?
She’d been pulled twice already into Mercy’s visions...
I knew as I walked closer, this vision was not a current one, just as the previous one had not been as well.
Her memory was disjointed, and I could sense the pain, the guilt in the vision because she couldn’t remember.
The man who held her, his dark hair and green eyes gazing at her with warmth and adoration.
“I think we should stay the night,” she said, looking at him in the car.
“We can make it by morning if we continue on the road—”
“But the weather—”
“Meteorology is the one job you can always be wrong and still have your job.Those asshats rarely get a forecast right.I mean, they said it was going to rain all day today and we haven’t seen a drop.”
Before I could get a good look at the man, I noticed the license plate.
But they were not Arkansas plates.
They were California plates.
I reached for the car, the plates, Mercy.But she was nowhere to be found.Instead, I awoke for the second time in a day, to Valory standing over me.
Only this time, her appearance was in stark contrast to the last time.
She tried to help me up but I pushed her away, trying to hold on to the image I’d seen of the license plate, the make of the car.I’d have to ask Mercy about it, when we got her back.
