Arcane Awakenings The Collection (Books 1 - 6) (Arcane Awakenings Novella Series)

Book : Arcane Awakenings Novella Series

by Shelley Russell Nolan

Genres: Paranormal; Young adult

Synopsis

Extraordinary abilities. Ruthless adversaries. Handsome allies.

All six novellas in one collection.

Six young women discover hidden powers that make them the target of unscrupulous adversaries. Only by learning to harness their newfound abilities and work together will they be able to gain their freedom. As they fight to break free, they soon learn that more is at stake than just their lives.

Arcane Awakenings - a fast-paced paranormal fantasy novella series

Release date: January 31, 2019

Print pages: 669

Sample

Angel Fire

 

Chapter One

 

I stared at the little blue pill in the palm of my hand.

Tired of waking coated in sweat, with the bed sheets twisted around my legs, I’d grabbed the last packet of pills out of the top drawer of my bedside table, despairing that the months spent weaning myself off the medication had been for nothing.

The pill, innocuous and yet seductive, promised a dreamless night and a return to existing on autopilot. 

My hand shook as I lifted it toward my mouth, the sting of failure making my eyes water. Aunt Joyce had predicted I wouldn’t be able to handle life without medication and would snap under the pressure of the real world. The day I moved out she’d stood in the doorway and watched me pile my bags into the back of the taxi, as usual making no attempt to hide her scorn.

She’d said I wouldn’t last six months without medication. 

If I swallowed this pill, I’d be proving her right.   

My spine stiffened, and I made a fist.

No.

She was the one who was wrong. 

I launched myself off the bed and raced to the toilet. Before I could think twice, I lifted the lid and threw the pill into the bowl. Breathing ragged, I flushed the toilet, and watched the water carry temptation away.

Sweat trickled down my forehead, and I wiped it away with the back of my hand as I returned to my room. I sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over, arms wrapped around my stomach as I rocked backward and forward. Gradually my breathing eased, and I lay down, arms at my sides, hands gripping the sheet beneath me. I stared at the ceiling, at the shadows cast by the lamp on the bedside table.

Eyelids impossibly heavy, given weight by weeks of disturbed nights, they closed, and sleep claimed me.

It felt as if I’d only just fallen asleep when I was transported to the room that had haunted me for as long as I could remember. 

 

I stand in the open doorway as the empty room ripples before filling with furniture. Twin timber beds rest against one wall, covered in matching pink quilts with a colourful collection of stuffed toys on the pillows. White lace billows over the window between the beds and glittering fairies dance on the pink and white curtains hanging open on either side.

On the opposite side of the room a brown rocking horse with a golden mane sits beside a large pink and white toy box. An ornate dollhouse rests on a multi-coloured rug in the centre of the room, just waiting to be played with by little hands.   

The room is neat and tidy, everything in its place, but I know that will soon change. My stomach clenches, dread filling my mouth with bile. I struggle to move, to leave the room, but remain frozen in place, helpless to do anything but bear witness as the dream plays out before me.

The room ripples, and now it is no longer neat. Toys are strewn over the floor, the quilts have been thrown off the beds, and the sheets rumpled. A small child sits on one of the beds, legs dangling over the edge. She is beautiful, with dark blonde curls and sleepy indigo eyes, one chubby hand clutching a well-worn teddy to her chest. She appears to be around three years of age.

The little girl is me, a reflection of the child I had once been. I smile at my former self, enjoying this moment of peace even though I know it is not to last. The room ripples once more and I shudder as the dream shifts to nightmare.

The room goes dark and smoke obscures my vision. I wave a hand in front of my face to clear the smoke away, and desperately search for the little girl. She is now standing in the middle of the bed, beseeching me with terror-filled eyes. 

A crackling noise from behind makes me spin around and I find myself looking down a long hall filled with smoke, flames licking the walls, heat pressing against my face. Mesmerised by the flames, my attention is caught, until a terrified scream has me turning back to my childhood self.

Fire is devouring the fairies on the curtains as the little girl backs away from them in fear. She reaches the end of the bed and looks over her shoulder at me. 

‘Help me, Andie, please. I’m scared.’ The little girl stretches a hand toward me. Her mouth doesn’t move, but her words echo in my head. 

I want to take her in my arms and pluck her to safety. I take one step inside the room, jumping back when part of the ceiling collapses to the floor in front of me, crushing the dollhouse. I move around it, one hand shielding my eyes when the rug beneath the chunk of ceiling catches fire. Heat blasts me from all sides as the little girl silently cries my name. I reach out to her and she smiles as our fingertips touch. I lean forward, preparing to take the last step so I can scoop her into my arms.

Something grabs me around my waist and pulls me back.

‘No.’ I struggle to break free, striving with all my might to go to the little girl, hoping this time the unseen force will relent.

‘Andie!’ The little girl screams, retreating to the other end of the bed as more of the ceiling caves in between us.

‘Let me go.’ Tears stream down my cheeks. I desperately want to go back, to rescue the little girl. Instead, I am picked up and carried down the hall. 

The child’s cries get louder, more insistent, and I cover my ears but am unable to block them out as they are inside my head. Smoke fills my lungs and I choke on it, eyes stinging and chest heaving. 

Then darkness takes me.

 

I bolted upright, coughing, rubbing my abraded throat, an echo of the little girl’s screams ringing in my ears. My body trembled as an acute sense of loss filled me. Shivers racked my body and I grabbed a throw rug off the end of the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders in a vain effort to get warm. A wide yawn made my eyes water but I resisted the urge to lie down. Even if I did manage to go back to sleep, experience taught me the nightmare would return.

I grabbed my mobile phone off the bedside table and checked the time. Three am. I stared at the wall opposite my bed, still seeing the little girl’s face, my face. I rubbed my eyes, wiping away tears, wishing I knew why this dream continued to haunt me. 

The first time had been the night after my parents died in a car accident. All I had were vague memories of waking in the middle of the night, in a strange room, screaming. I’d called for my mum, only to be told she was gone and Joyce, Uncle Bill’s new wife, was now my mother. A woman I had never met stood beside the bed, frowning at me. Then she walked out of the room without saying another word, leaving it to my older brother Daniel to comfort me. 

The next morning, she and Uncle Bill took me to see a psychiatrist, who explained away my nightmare as a reaction to the changes in my environment and the trauma of losing my parents. It would go away once I’d settled in at my new home, the shrink said. But the dreams didn’t go away, they got worse, and five shrinks later Aunt Joyce found one who said sedatives were the answer. 

Every night, for the next fifteen years, my aunt would appear with a glass of water in one gloved hand and my dose in the other. She’d pry my mouth open and toss the pill into the back of my throat. Then she’d hold my mouth shut, grab hold of my hair and wrench my head back until I swallowed. Only then would I be allowed to take a sip of water. The nightly ritual never changed, and I learned early on that my tears and childish pleas were useless. 

The dosage increased year by year and by the time I turned thirteen it had reached a level where it became impossible for me to shake off the effects the next day. Thoughts dull, unable to fully engage with the people around me, I muddled my way through high school, hiding out in the library during breaks. 

Daniel was my only friend, my confidante, my lifeline. I would have gone crazy for real if he wasn’t there to support me. Then he finished his apprenticeship as an electrician and moved out. Though he regularly came to visit, it was not the same. I was essentially alone, imprisoned in a body that did not feel as if it belonged to me, with Aunt Joyce hovering in the background ready to shove even more pills down my throat.

When I turned eighteen, legally an adult, I’d packed my bags and caught a taxi to Daniel’s flat. His flatmate had found living away from home too expensive and returned to his parents a month earlier, leaving Daniel to cover the full cost of the rent. Most brothers wouldn’t be keen on having their little sister moving in, but Daniel knew how much I hated living at Bill and Joyce’s without him, and so far, it seemed to be working out. 

I was halfway through my first year at Easton University, studying nursing while working part-time at a local nursing home. My income, along with the subsidy I received from the government, covered my share of the rent and kept me fed. There wasn’t much left in the bank once the bills had been paid each week, but I was happy to forgo new clothes or nights out to escape my aunt’s religious adherence to perfection.

I was the antithesis of perfection. 

Aunt Joyce was not able to hide her relief when I announced I was leaving home, a far cry from the reaction Daniel had received a year earlier. But then, he’d never caused her sleepless nights or needed expensive medical treatment. Though it was never said aloud, I knew she and Uncle Bill regretted their decision to adopt me formally. If they weren’t focused on keeping up the appearance of the perfect family, I’m sure they would have sent me away and just kept Daniel. 

I sighed, shaking my head to banish such gloomy thoughts, and reached for the book on my bedside table. I was keen to lose myself in someone else’s life for a while. I’d just finished the first chapter when a bang set my heart racing.

I let the book fall to the bed and tossed the throw rug aside as I got to my feet.

‘Daniel, is that you?’ I wrenched open my bedroom door and stepped out into the hall as another bang, followed by the sound of breaking glass, came from the kitchen. I sped down the hall and skidded to a stop when I saw Daniel standing in front of the sink. His left hand was held up in front of him, blood pooling in the centre of his palm. 

‘Oh my God, what happened?’ I made my way to his side, skirting the broken glass on the floor. 

He blinked at me, body swaying, eyes bloodshot.

I frowned. ‘Have you been drinking?’ This was not like Daniel. He was usually so serious; he hardly ever had more than two beers.

‘I dropped a glass,’ he said, slurring his words as he held his palm up for me to inspect.

‘I see that.’ I took his hand and ran it under the cold tap to rinse off the blood. A jagged piece of glass was embedded in his palm and I prised it free, pleased to see it left only a small cut. I grabbed a tea towel and wrapped it around his hand, then led him around the broken glass and over to the small dining table tucked into a corner of the kitchen.

‘I tried to clean it up,’ he said, pointing to the dustpan and brush he had pulled out of the cupboard under the sink. 

‘It’s okay, I’ll take care of it.’ I made him sit down and manoeuvred him around until his uninjured hand rested on top of his injured one. ‘But first I need to take care of you. Hold that while I get the first aid kit.’

He gave me a bleary smile and nodded, slumping down in the chair until his chin was sitting on his chest.

I got the first aid kit from the bathroom and ran back to the kitchen. 

Daniel was no longer sitting at the table. I searched through the flat and found him lying face down on his bed, snoring softly, left arm trailing over the side. He didn’t move as I undid the tea towel and wiped the puncture wound with an antiseptic cloth. Once the area was dry, I placed a dressing over it and smoothed it in place. 

He was so out of it he didn’t make a sound as I placed his arm back on the bed. Then I packed up the first aid kit and stashed it away in the bathroom cupboard. Back in the kitchen, I grabbed the dustpan and brush and made quick work of the mess he’d made.

Daniel’s behaviour was so out of character; something had to be seriously wrong. My stomach clenched at the thought. 

He was all I had. 

I couldn’t lose him.

 

Chapter Two

 

I tossed the broken glass into the rubbish bin and put the dustpan and brush away, brow creasing when I heard a strange noise. It sounded almost like someone crying, and it was coming from Daniel’s room. Eyebrows raised, I tiptoed down the hall and peered into his bedroom. 

Daniel still lay on his bed, only he was now curled up on his side with his back to me. Sobs racked his body and I crept further into the room, hesitant to intrude yet wanting to help. I got close enough to touch him, and could see he was clutching something to his chest. 

I stretched out my hand, reaching for his shoulder.

‘Angel,’ he said.

Startled, I jumped back, letting out a soft squeal and smothering it with my hand.

‘I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault,’ he said, and started murmuring the same name repeatedly. ‘Angel.’ 

Goosebumps covered my body at the anguish in his voice. I rubbed my arms, shivering in the cool morning air, as I leaned over him. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t react when I squeezed his shoulder. But with my touch his breathing eased, and the murmuring stopped.

I straightened up, relief swamping me at a mundane explanation for his out of character behaviour. This Angel must be his girlfriend and they were going through a break-up. Not that he’d ever seemed serious about any of the girls that showed up from time to time. Tall and fit, with the same indigo coloured eyes as me, teamed with light brown hair, he attracted them without even trying, but I didn’t think I’d ever heard him mention a girl named Angel before.

Should I wake him, and see if he wanted to talk about it? 

No, better to wait and ask him about it in the morning, when he wouldn’t be embarrassed to have his little sister find him crying drunk over a girl. I went back to my room, lay on the bed and closed my eyes, vainly hoping this time my sleep would be dream-free.

 

When the first ripple subsides, instead of a child’s bedroom, I am surrounded by trees, moonlight creating dappled shadows on the grass at my feet. Through gaps in the trees I see a high mesh fence with a large sign hanging from it. I walk toward it, getting close enough to see it is a danger sign for an electric fence. I stop walking and stare at the sign, puzzled by its appearance in my dream.

A soft voice calls my name and a second later I hear running footsteps behind me.

I spin around. A young woman dressed in a long white nightgown runs toward me. Barefoot and with dark blonde hair flowing behind her, she emerges from the shadows cast by the trees surrounding us, enveloped in a golden glow.

I stop breathing, time standing still as she halts in front of me, staring at me with my own eyes. The vision smiles, her expression joyous. I smile back, marvelling at the replica my dreaming mind has created, though there are subtle differences. The vision has hair that hangs below her waist in gentle curls, while mine falls halfway down my back and I have a side swept fringe. But our faces are exactly the same. 

The vision steps forward and takes my hand. ‘Andie, help me.’

It is eerie to hear my name, in my voice, coming from a vision whose mouth doesn’t move, but at the same time it feels so familiar, like something I’ve experienced hundreds of times before.

I shake my head, pushing my confusion away to focus on the vision’s plea for help. ‘What do you want me to do?’ 

‘I need you to come and find me, Andie. They’re hurting me. Please, you have to find me, and make them stop.’ Tears form in her eyes, the hand holding mine gripping tight. 

‘Who is hurting you?’ Though I know this is a dream, the desperation in her eyes has me longing to make her fear go away.

‘They are.’ The vision points back the way she came, and I can just make out several figures running through the trees in the distance, torchlight flickering as they search. 

Sounds drift in the still night air, and I hear voices calling, still too far away to make out the words. I strain my ears, listening carefully, and gasp as what I hear sinks in.

They are calling for Angel.

The fear in the vision’s eyes intensifies and she squeezes my hand. ‘Please hurry, Andie. I need you. Help me.’ 

Her form wavers, though she clings to my hand so hard it hurts, and soon I can see through her. Then she vanishes, leaving me with four half-moon shaped indents in the back of my hand.

 

Heart pounding, I opened my eyes, still seeing the vision’s terrified face, my terrified face. I pulled the quilt up to my chin to ward off the sudden chill that gripped me. 

Where had this new dream come from? Had it been triggered by Daniel’s mention of someone called Angel? 

The burgeoning dawn sent gentle light through the open window and I reached over to turn off the lamp on my bedside table, wincing as the movement caused pain to flare on the back of my right hand. I held it in front of me and stared in shock at the four distinct nail marks, just like the ones from my dream.

Had I made the marks in my sleep, causing me to then dream about it happening? It was the only explanation that made sense, and yet it seemed impossible I could do that to myself while I was asleep. 

A voice sounded in my head. ‘Help me, Andie. Please, save me.’

I launched off the bed, pulse racing as I scanned the room. I backed up to the wall and switched on the light. Brightness flooded the room, dispelling the shadows but doing nothing to calm my thoughts. I was wide awake, alone in my room, hearing voices. A strange current moved over my skin, wrapping around me before flitting away, and the hairs on my arms rose. 

I wrenched open my door and bolted down the hall to Daniel’s room. He was fast asleep, lying on his back, one hand holding something on his chest. I wanted to wake him, to have him reassure me I wasn’t going crazy, that a voice, my voice, hadn’t just spoken to me in my room, to explain away the marks on my hand.

I put a hand on his shoulder, ready to shake him, but hesitated. If I told him what had happened he’d be sure to mention it to Bill and Joyce the next time he spoke to them. They would be quick to take it as another sign of my inadequacy. Joyce would ramp up her campaign to get me back on my medication, and maybe this time Daniel would side with them. 

I couldn’t bear it if he started to look at me with disappointment in his eyes too. 

Maybe I had imagined the voice, the dream affecting me more than I’d thought. I rubbed my arms and gazed at Daniel, torn over what I should do, fear this was some kind of mental snap freezing me in place.

I was not going crazy. I wasn’t.

I leaned over Daniel, needing to talk to him, to tell him what had happened, even if it might lead him to think I was crazy. My fear gave way to curiosity when I realised the item he was clutching to his chest was a photograph. 

Was it a picture of his girlfriend, this mysterious Angel? 

I peered down at it, but the bulk of it was obscured by his hand and all I could see was part of the background. After checking to see if he was still fast asleep, I carefully prised the photo out from under his fingers. I held it up to the sliver of light coming through a gap in his curtains.

My knees buckled, and I gripped the bedhead to stop myself from toppling over. 

Identical twin girls with dark blonde curls and indigo eyes smiled up at me. A caption beneath the photo read ‘Andrea and Angela, 3yrs and 5 months’ and below that was the date the photo had been taken, fifteen years ago.

 

Chapter Three

 

I stumbled out of Daniel’s room and retreated to my own, unable to tear my eyes away from the proof I had a twin sister. 

Where was she? 

Why had no one told me she existed? 

How could I have forgotten my own twin?

Hands shaking, I sat on my bed, tears falling on the photo. I hadn’t forgotten, not completely. My recurring dreams had shown me what I’d lost. 

Angela was Angel.

Anger swamped me, burning away my tears. My aunt and uncle had dragged me to countless psychiatric sessions, forced me to take medication I didn’t need, all of it designed to wipe away any memory of my twin. 

I clapped a hand over my mouth. 

The fire. 

That must have been how Angel died. That was what my dreams had been trying to tell me, to make me remember. She had been trapped in a burning room, screaming for me to save her, and I’d left her there to die.

Pain tore through me and I gasped for air, hunched over, sobbing for everything I had lost. 

An eternity passed before I managed to stifle my sobs. I lay curled up on the bed, staring at the photo, running my fingers over the smiling faces of Angel and me. Why couldn’t I remember her and our time together? Why had Daniel kept it from me, robbing me of the chance to mourn her?

As horrible as it was, I could understand why Joyce had never said anything. It was just like her to pretend Angel never existed. Bad enough that she’d had her seemingly perfect life turned around when our parents died and caring for us had fallen to Bill and her. To have another tragedy linked to the family name would be something she would prefer to keep quiet about. 

But Daniel? 

He was my brother. 

Our brother. 

For him to have stood by all these years and not told me about Angel, was wrong on so many levels it twisted my stomach just thinking about it. 

When I heard him get out of bed and stumble into the bathroom, I stood. It was time for answers. I marched down the hall and waited outside the bathroom door, tapping my feet as I waited for him to emerge. As soon as he opened the door I thrust the photo in front of his bloodshot eyes.

‘Why didn’t you tell me I had a twin sister?’

The colour leached from his face. ‘Where did you get that? Have you been going through my things?’

‘As if that matters. I had a twin sister, and no one told me. How could you do that? How could you pretend you didn’t know what was going on, why I was having the same dream night after night? She died in a fire, didn’t she?’

He nodded, holding on to the door jamb, a queasy look on his face. ‘I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but everyone said it was best not to.’

‘Everyone, or just Bill and Joyce?’

His brow creased, and he straightened up. ‘I wish you wouldn’t call them that. You know they don’t like it.’

I stifled a snort, and shook my head. ‘Unbelievable. They’ve had you lying to me for fifteen years, and you’re still defending them.’

‘They took us in when Mum and Dad died, gave us a home. They were just trying to do the right thing.’

‘By turning me into a freak show? Shoving pills down my throat?’ I turned away, disgusted by the hurt in his eyes. 

‘Andie, wait. Let me explain.’ He grabbed my arm and spun me around. ‘It wasn’t like that. After the fire, you were confused. You’d blocked out the memories. It was the experts who advised Mum and Dad to let you continue to forget Angel.’

‘They are not our parents. They only agreed to adopt us because there was nowhere else for us to go after Mum and Dad died in the car accident.’ He dropped his eyes and my stomach churned. ‘Please don’t tell me that was a lie.’

He gave a sigh. ‘They died in the fire, with Angel. Mum and … Uncle Bill and Aunt Joyce said it would be better if you thought they’d died in a car accident, in case the mention of a fire triggered memories of what really happened.’

I sank to the floor, back against the wall, eyes wide and unseeing. ‘This can’t be happening. This can’t be real.’ Horror choked off my voice. This was worse than any nightmare. 

Daniel crouched in front of me, reaching out to pull me into his arms.

‘No.’ I pushed his hands away and scrambled to my feet, breath coming in gasps. ‘You do not get to touch me.’ Hands clenched into fists, I backed away from him.

‘Andie, please, I feel bad enough as it is. Don’t shut me out.’

He did look wretched, but I was beyond feeling pity for him. ‘What else haven’t you told me? What other lies have I been fed?’ 

His expression became even more pitiful. ‘It was my fault Angel died.’

My mouth fell open. ‘You set the fire?’

‘No, it was caused by an electrical fault. By the time the smoke alarms went off, half the house was in flames. Mum and Dad were trapped in their bedroom and they yelled at me to get you and Angel out of the house. But I could only carry one of you at a time. I grabbed you first. I swear I was going to go straight back for Angel, but the roof collapsed, and I couldn’t get back in the house. But if I’d been stronger, faster, I could have saved her.’ Anguish filled his eyes and tears streamed down his cheeks. ‘It’s my fault she died. I should have been able to save her.’

My anger evaporated, shoulders slumping as I leaned into the wall for support. ‘You were a little boy. You can’t blame yourself for what happened.’ 

He shook his head, wiping his eyes with the back of one hand. Then he held it up in front of him, staring at the dressing in confusion. 

‘You broke a glass, and got a piece of it stuck in your palm,’ I said. ‘Don’t you remember?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. It’s all a bit fuzzy. Guess I drank too much.’

‘I thought you must have broken up with a girl called Angel. You were crying and saying her name over and over again.’ 

His strange behaviour had been the trigger for the latest dream. Was it the ghost of Angel’s memory, hidden in my subconscious, which made me think I’d heard her voice? I looked at my hand, to see the nail marks had vanished. Had I dreamed them too? 

‘Yesterday was the anniversary of the fire,’ said Daniel, the anguish in his voice dragging my gaze back up to his. 

Tears glistened in his eyes. ‘I got carried away trying to block out the memories. I envied you, being able to forget. I’ll always remember the look on her face as I carried you away, leaving her to die. I know most people didn’t think she understood what was going on, but she knew. I could see it in her eyes.’

‘What do you mean?’

He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt. ‘Angel was different. She was always doing weird stuff, freaking people out, and she was mute.’

‘Mute?’  

‘She couldn’t talk or make any sounds. The doctors never knew why. Mum and Dad said it was because she was special, and started calling her Angel instead of Angela.’ His mouth formed a crooked smile. ‘You used to do all the talking for her, act as her translator, although you always insisted she could talk. You said you could hear her voice in your head and couldn’t understand why we couldn’t hear it too.’

I sucked in a breath. In every one of my dreams I’d heard Angel’s voice, but her lips hadn’t moved. Fifteen years of dreams, in which my subconscious had fought so hard to make me remember her. The job made harder by the medication I’d been forced to take. 

All for nothing. 

The pills that turned me into a robot, the countless hours spent having my head examined and my dream dissected, none of it made any difference because it had all been based on lies. Had any of the shrinks Bill and Joyce took me to known the truth or had they been lied to as well?

A bitter taste flooded my mouth, not unlike the aftertaste of the pills I’d been forced to swallow for all the wrong reasons.

I bolted into my bedroom, wrenched open the top drawer of my bedside table and pulled out the packet of pills I’d kept hidden away as a safety net. 

Daniel followed me, and I thrust the packet into his hand, forcing him to take it.

‘Fifteen years these stupid things have ruled my life, making me feel like a failure, that there was something wrong with me, and you knew it was all a lie.’ Eyes stinging, I glared at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth? How could you stand back and let them do this to me when you knew I wasn’t crazy?’

He ran a hand through his hair, sorrow in his eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, Andie. They said it was for the best, that it was what the doctors recommended.’

I shook my head, cheeks wet with tears. ‘How could letting me forget Angel ever existed be for the best? She was my identical twin. She deserved so much more than to be cast aside and forgotten because her memory didn’t fit with Joyce’s stupid pursuit of perfection.’

He reached for me and I stepped back. I couldn’t bear it if he touched me. He’d known the truth all these years. He’d watched me suffer, and said nothing. He treated Bill and Joyce as if they really were our parents. I’d counted on him to always be there for me, supporting me, to be the one person I could trust. But it had all been an illusion based on a lifetime of lies. 

I spun around and bolted down the hall. Ignoring Daniel’s cries for me to stop, I yanked open the front door and ran outside, not caring that I was in my pyjamas and barefoot. I ran down the driveway and onto the empty road, and kept on running, trying to outdistance the pain welling up inside me. 

As my feet pounded the bitumen, Angel’s image filled my head, the feelings of horror inspired by the dreams magnified tenfold now I knew it was a memory. She had died in the most horrible way, alone and terrified. 

A cramp ripped into my side and I stumbled to the side of the road and collapsed on my back on the grassy footpath, gasping in oxygen. 

I stared up at the clouds in the sky. What kind of person was I, to forget something like that had happened, to not remember leaving Angel to die? 

‘Are you okay?’ 

I shielded my eyes with one hand and stared up at the young guy leaning over me, concern in his rich brown eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a nod, not trusting my voice.

‘Are you sure? You don’t look okay.’ He crouched beside me. ‘In fact, you look terrible. Your pyjamas are cute though.’ He smiled, a dimple appearing in each cheek.

My face heated up as I pushed myself up on one elbow, waving him away when he moved to help. I dragged myself to my feet and peered down at him, arms crossed over the print of a kitten hanging upside down from a branch on my pyjama top.

‘So, do you always go for a morning run in your pyjamas or is today a special occasion?’ He stood up, and I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes. He had to be well over six feet tall. He brushed dark-brown hair out of his eyes and frowned at me. 

‘Earth to Andie.’

Eyes wide, I took a step back. ‘How do you know my name?’ I edged sideways, ready to bolt. I scanned the street, biting my bottom lip when I didn’t spot anyone else.

‘I met you a couple of months ago, when Dan picked you up from a party for some girl you go to university with. Not surprised you don’t remember me, though. You were pretty out of it that night.’ His dimples reappeared when he chuckled at the memory.

I tilted my head, thinking back to when I’d attended Maddie’s eighteenth birthday party. I’d just started weaning myself off the pills and the dreams had begun once more. Desperate to silence them, I’d made the mistake of thinking alcohol might help me sleep dream-free. 

Three drinks later, head reeling, I’d called Daniel and asked him to come and get me. Once he’d got me home I’d slept for twelve hours, unable to wake each time the dream reset. I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since and cringed to think of this guy seeing me when I’d been so out of it. I hadn’t even realised someone else was in the car with Daniel until the other person had helped him get me into the flat.

‘So,’ he said, ‘are you going to tell me what has you running down the road, with no shoes on, or do I have to guess?’

‘What are you doing here?’ I frowned at him, every muscle in my body tense. 

‘We had a work function last night and Dan was drinking more than usual. It seemed he had something heavy on his mind, so I thought I’d check on him. I was just pulling up in front of your place when you came flying out the door and tore off down the road.’ He tilted his head. ‘Want to talk about it?’ 

I dropped my eyes, the weight constricting my chest increasing. No way was I going to talk about what I’d just discovered to a stranger. He might be Daniel’s friend, but he was nothing to me. And seriously, since when did Daniel like being called Dan? He hated it when people shortened his name, or at least he used to. 

Maybe I didn’t know him as well as I’d thought. 

He’d kept the truth about Angel from me, so maybe I didn’t know him at all.

Chapter Four

I turned around to walk home and bit back a curse when my heel came down on something sharp. Balancing on one leg, I lifted my injured foot in the air and groaned when I spotted the bottle top clinging to my heel. It had been partially buried beneath a clump of leaves. I pulled it off, hoping it hadn’t punctured the skin. Blood welled from a circular cut and I winced at the sting that erupted now it had been exposed to the air.

Fist clenched around the bottle top, so I could put it in the bin when I got home, saving anyone else from standing on it, I gingerly placed my injured foot on the ground.

‘I’ll give you a lift. My car’s right over there,’ said Daniel’s friend, getting in front of me and pointing to the dark blue sedan parked across the road.

Eyebrows raised, I stared at him. ‘I’m not getting in a car with you. I don’t even know your name.’

‘Oh, sorry. I’m Nick, Nick Foster.’ He held out his hands, palms facing up, and gave me a disarming smile. ‘I swear I’m not an axe murderer. And technically, Dan did introduce me the night we brought you home from the party. You just don’t remember.’ 

I took a step back. ‘Look, Nick, no offence, but while you might be a friend of my brother’s I don’t know you, introduction or not. So, you can just go, please. Daniel’s fine, I’m fine, and there’s nothing for you to worry about.’

Nick let his hands drop, though his smile didn’t waver. ‘No problem. I’ll get out of your way, but at least let me take you home first. No telling what you’ll step on between here and there, or how many germs you’ll pick up.’

The heel of my foot still stung and, if I were to walk home, I’d have to keep it off the ground the whole way. 

Wishing Nick wasn’t right about how many germs I could pick up with an open wound, I gave a sigh. ‘Fine, you can give me a lift.’ Keeping my weight off my heel, I limped across the road and waited while Nick unlocked the car.

He scooted past me to open the passenger door, giving me an engaging grin I did my best to ignore as I slid inside and buckled up. He was just giving me a lift, and I was not in the mood to make a new friend, so I avoided his attempts to start a conversation when he climbed into the driver’s seat. He kept shooting sideways glances my way as he drove me back to the flat, and I bolted out of the car as soon as he pulled up out the front.

In my rush to avoid an awkward situation, I put my sore heel on the ground and hissed at the flare of pain. I stumbled back against the car. Before I could regain my balance, Nick had joined me at the kerb, gripping my elbow to steady me. I pulled free of his grasp, but before I could thank him for the ride and ask him to leave, Daniel burst out of the flat.

‘Thank God you’re back,’ Daniel said as he enveloped me in his arms, hugging me tight. ‘Don’t ever run off on me like that again.’

I held myself still, conscious of Nick watching us. Daniel let me go and stepped back, frowning when he saw his friend.

‘Nick? What are you doing here?’ He looked from me to Nick. ‘What’s going on with you two?’

‘Nothing is going on with us. He just gave me a lift home.’ I brushed past Daniel, back straight, trying to minimise my limp. I walked up the driveway as quickly as I could, my pace not fast enough for my liking, conscious of both of them watching on.

‘I was coming to see how you were doing. Found your sister running down the street with no shoes on,’ I heard Nick say. ‘Thought I’d better bring her home.’

‘Thanks, mate.’ Relief coloured Daniel’s words.

‘Is everything okay? Your sister seemed pretty upset, and you don’t look crash hot either,’ said Nick. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ 

I’d finally reached the front door and didn’t wait to hear Daniel’s reply. Once inside the flat I headed to the bathroom to get the first aid kit out again. No longer worrying about hiding my limp, I made my way to the lounge room and sat on the couch. I twisted my leg around to inspect the damage I’d done to my heel, not looking up when Daniel walked in.

I stiffened when I realised he wasn’t alone. Nick was at his side, the two of them conversing in low tones on the other side of the lounge. 

Nick cast a quick glance my way and then crossed the room to take a seat beside me. ‘Here, let me do that,’ he said as he took the antiseptic cloth out of my hands. ‘You’re all twisted around like a pretzel.’ 

My eyes widened as he wiped the cloth over the cut, long fingers gentle and his touch light. He picked up the dressing I had laid out on the seat between us, peeled off the backing and placed the dressing over my heel, smoothing it down and giving me a smile.

‘That should do it,’ he said, his hand, warm and solid, still resting on my ankle.

I dropped my eyes and pulled my foot free as Daniel stepped closer to the couch. 

‘Is she going to be okay?’ Daniel asked, worry lines appearing on his forehead as he looked to Nick.

‘She’ll be fine. The cut looked clean.’ Nick smiled over at me.

‘Hey, I’m right here. I can answer for myself.’ I scowled at him. ‘And I didn’t need your help. I was doing fine on my own.’

‘Of course you were, and I’m sorry for taking over like that,’ he said, with an apologetic dip of his head. ‘I’m the first aid officer for our section at work. I’ve had to patch up so many scrapes lately, it was an automatic response.’

I stood up, not ready to be appeased by the sheepish grin he wore or the caring light in his dark eyes. So much had happened in such a short time and I needed to be alone to process it, to figure out where to go from here. 

‘I’m going to get dressed,’ I tossed over my shoulder as I limped down the hall.

It was a relief to be able to close my bedroom door, and shut Daniel and Nick out, mind racing as I came up with a plan. 

I made my bed and then dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. I hunted in the bottom of my wardrobe for my most comfortable pair of shoes, relieved when I put them on to find they did not press on my sore heel. Next, I headed to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, conscious of the steady murmur of voices coming from the lounge room. 

Nick was still in the flat. 

I twisted my hair into a loop and knotted it at the back of my neck, frowning at my reflection the entire time. Why wouldn’t he leave? 

I needed Daniel to take me to the cemetery, so he could show me where Angel was buried. I also wanted to visit our parents’ graves. It had been years since I’d been to the cemetery. I could only vaguely remember going there on a couple of occasions with Bill and Joyce at my back, controlling where I went. No doubt they’d been trying to stop me from spotting Angel’s grave. 

But that was going to change. Daniel would take me to see Angel, so I could say goodbye. 

Maybe then the dreams would stop for good.

My breath hitched when I entered the lounge. Nick stood in the middle of the room, a sympathetic look in his eyes. Daniel was nowhere in sight, though I could hear him talking to someone.

‘Dan’s outside, on the phone to your parents,’ said Nick.

Anger filled me, and I crossed my arms in front of my chest. ‘Bill and Joyce are not my parents. They’re my aunt and uncle.’

‘I thought they adopted you?’

‘It takes more than a piece of paper to be parents.’

‘I can’t blame you for being pissed off with them,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Pretty sure I’d feel the same if I suddenly discovered I had an identical twin my folks had never told me about.’

A cold sweat swept over me, mouth hanging open. ‘Daniel told you about Angel?’

Nick shrugged. ‘He needed someone to talk to. I know you’re angry with him, but maybe you can cut him some slack. He’s having a hard time dealing with it himself. Still thinks it’s his fault your sister died.’

Daniel walked into the lounge, phone in his hand. ‘Mum and Dad want to talk to you,’ he said, holding the phone out, expression hopeful.

I took the phone, hit the End Call button, and threw it on the floor. ‘They can go to Hell, and so can you. I can’t believe you told Nick about Angel. It took you fifteen years to tell me the truth, and only then because I found the photo of us as kids. You’ve known him for what, five minutes, and you tell him everything? How could you do that?’

Daniel didn’t even look at me as he scooped his phone off the floor and inspected it for damage.

Teeth gritted, I held out my hand. ‘Give me your car keys.’ 

Daniel straightened up, eyebrows raised. ‘What?’

‘I’m going to the cemetery, so give me your keys.’

‘No way. You’re not driving my car. You just broke my phone.’ He held it up to display a cracked screen, nostrils flaring. 

‘I don’t care about your stupid phone. I just want to see Angel, to say goodbye properly.’ Tears pricked my eyes. ‘You got to remember her, mourn her, but I never did. Please, Daniel, I need to do this.’

The anger left Daniel’s face, and he rubbed a hand over his chin. ‘I’ll drive you.’

Nick stepped up beside Daniel, putting a hand on his arm. ‘Not a good idea, Dan. You had a shitload of drinks last night. You’ll still be over the limit. I’ll drive you both to the cemetery.’

I glared at him. ‘I can drive myself. I don’t need either of you to come with me.’ 

‘You are not going to the cemetery alone, and we can’t take my car. It’s been playing up. I’ve got it booked in to the mechanic,’ said Daniel as he checked his watch. ‘Shit, I’m supposed to have it there in fifteen minutes.’ He rubbed his chin again. ‘Nick, can you follow Andie and me to the mechanic, and then take us to the cemetery?’

‘No problem,’ said Nick. 

There was no way I wanted this virtual stranger coming along on what was going to be an emotional event, but there didn’t seem to be another choice. I did my best to ignore him as I waited for Daniel to get dressed and clean himself up, tapping my feet all the while.

‘Finally,’ I said as Daniel emerged from the bathroom with his face and hair still wet. I stuffed my mobile phone into my back pocket, snatched the keys out of his hand and marched out of the flat, leaving it to him to lock up. 

Neither Daniel or I spoke in the car on the way to the mechanic’s, yet words hovered in the air around us. As I drove, I sneaked glances his way but, with his sunglasses blocking his eyes, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. My own thoughts were a tangled mess. Guilt over forgetting about Angel warred with anger at being lied to. 

Nick’s plea for me to cut Daniel some slack was also sinking in, filling me with guilt over how I’d been treating him since I’d confronted him with the truth.

He’d only been seven when the fire had ripped through our home and destroyed our family. Then he’d been manipulated by Bill and Joyce into lying about it. They’d told him keeping the truth from me was for the best, that the doctors had advised it. A seven-year-old wouldn’t have known how wrong this kind of reasoning was, and after fifteen years of living the lie it had become a way of life for him. 

Maybe the truth would set him free too.

I pulled into the mechanic’s car park and waited with Nick while Daniel went inside to hand over the keys and fill out the paperwork. Minutes later, I sat in the back seat of Nick’s car, behind Daniel, staring out the window as I steeled myself for coming face to face with my past.

I’d faced Angel night after for night for fifteen years, the memory of what happened to her shrouded in dreams and nightmares. 

But this, this was real.