Every Christmas, they cut down a tree and pulled it inside. They all made small gifts for each other and placed them under the tree. It was never much, but the tiny semblance of normalcy in their horror-filled world, made them all feel better.
Jack buried his disappointment when Charlie turned away from him.You’re not going to win her over easily; he reminded himself.One brick at a time.
“Sometimes, I see things,” she muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jack waitedfor her to say more, but she didn’t elaborate. “What do you see?” he asked.
Charlie contemplated how to answer him. It had been years since she told anyone, and then it went so wrong that she’d never uttered another word about the things she saw. Would Jack believe her?
What did it matter if he didn’t believe her? He’d asked the question, and she would answer him; if he didn’t believe her, then so be it, but she was tired of keeping herself locked away. She was tired of carrying her burdens by herself. She desperately wanted to lean on someone. Jack saved her from falling into the ocean when it would have been easier to let her go; she didn’t see him letting her down now.
“I’ve seen different things for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I saw the death of a young boy who lived down the road from us days before it happened. I told my parents to warn his mother not to let him ride his bike on the street, but they wouldn’t listen to me.
“And then, three days later, when the boy was hit by a car and killed, my parents locked me in my room, tied me to my bed, and prayed over my corrupt soul for a week. They were convinced their prayers would evict the evil residing in me. It wasn’t until our priest came over and assured them a demon didn’t possess me, that they let me leave my room and eat something more than bread.”
Jack heard the bitterness in her words. “How old were you?”
“Five.”
Jack’s stomach churned with acid as he thought about her parents doing such a thing to her. She’d been nothing but a child, sweet and trusting, and probably terrified of what she saw happening to the little boy. What they did afterward would have traumatized her.
“That’s the year I realized there was something different about me. It was also the year I learned I couldn’t count on my parents and could never tell them the things I saw again.”
Jack was beginning to understand her a lot better. It wasn’t just Dylan’s father who betrayed her; no, her parents turned on her when she was only a child. From the time she was young, she was taught not to trust people, yet she was telling him these things about her.
This was significant and difficult for her; he wouldnotdisappoint her. She would never endure such betrayal again. From now on, she would know she could rely on him to believe in her.
“I never told them about the things I saw again, but they still found plenty of reasons to lock me away. At least they never tied me to my bed again.”
“What else have you seen?” he asked.
“The death of birds seconds before they hit the windshield or a window. I once saw where a runaway girl was hiding and called in a tip to the police. I’ve seen other things over the years, most of them revolve around death, but I never see anything about myself. Like Ineversaw those vamps kidnapping Dylan and me and bringing us here.”
She rested her hand over her heart. “Ifeelthat Dylan is okay, but I can’tseehim like I could see all those other things, and Ihateit. I never saw Mal changing me, and you…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jack’s handsome face again. “I never saw you coming.”
“You probably would have run if you had.”
A smile curved her mouth. “Probably.”
“Then I’m glad I was unforeseen.”
Charlie considered this for a minute before muttering, “So am I.”
Jack tried not to let his happiness over her words show, and he decided not to pursue it. She was opening up to him, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. “You may not have seen me, but you did see something about this hunt.”
“I did. Of course, I didn’t know it wasthisyear’s hunt, but I saw a hunt getting messed up by people breaking out of their cages. I never have a time frame on things. Like when that car hit the little boy, it could have happened the same day of the vision, or a year later. With that vision, I knew it would be sooner rather than later because he still looked the same when I saw him dying and hadn’t aged. I didn’t recognize anyone in my vision of the escapees, and I still haven’t seen any of those I saw escaping their cages.”
“Do you think they were important? Do you think there was a reason you saw them?”
“They’re most likely not important to me. Remember, I don’t see anything about me. I think the vision was to let me know things were going to change.”
“That’s a good possibility,” Jack said.
“It would be helpful if I could see things about myself or Dylan, but I’m only meant to see things about others. Most of the time, there is nothing I can do to stop or change it, and sometimes I don’t see things until after they happen.”
“What do you mean?”
