Chapter 6

Jillian Foster bolted up from the bed, shivering in reaction. Her mouth gaped open like a fish as she tried to gulp air into her heaving lungs.

“Not again,” she whimpered. “Not again.”

The shakes wracked her entire body. Frigid air from the central air unit danced over goosebumps dotting the exposed flesh of her arms and legs. She tugged the ends of her pajama shorts down and pulled at the sweat-drenched pink tank top.

In the darkness of the room, she hugged herself to try to still her thrashing heart, beating her body’s fright into submission. Her eyes darted to the flat-screen alarm clock on the wall. “Three-thirty,” she whispered out loud, trying to impart some normalcy into the moment.

Normalcy. How could she have that when the dream, with all of its realism and sensation still clawed at her mind? Unwilling to relinquish its grip. Even now, as she stood next to the bed that had moments ago been her prison, she closed her eyes and saw Sarah’s face again.

“Sarah.” Even saying the girl’s name hurt.

Opening her eyes again, she unclenched herself and walked carefully to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, she took in her reflection. Her messy, strawberry pink hair started to show its ash blonde roots. She’d have to get it touched up before VEX in a couple of weeks.

Turning on the faucet, she splashed cold water on her face, trying to freeze out the image of Sarah so it wouldn’t come back to her mind’s forefront. She thought that part of her life was over.

“That was stupid, Jillian,” she told her reflection as she reached for the nearby hand towel and dabbed her face dry. With VEX being so close, how could she have thought otherwise? She should have been prepared for the resurgence of the dreams, rather, nightmares.

Jillian stared back at her reflection. Her pensive, light-blue gaze made a mockery of her.

“Jillian?” Jackson’s voice called from outside the bathroom.

Swiftly she put the hand towel back on the rack and the turned off the light and headed back into her bedroom.

Jackson’s tall, dark figure blocked the doorway. The light from the hallway washed over the thick crop of mussed up silver hair that decorated the top of his head. He pressed the flat panel by the door making light flood room.

“You okay?” Jackson asked as he came further into the room. A thin white T-shirt hung on his wiry frame and plaid boxer shorts hung low on his waist.

Jillian sighed. “I’m fine.”

Jackson scoffed. “Don’t feed me that bull. I know you too well for that.” He crossed over to her, folding her in his arms. His chin rested on top of her head. Unresistingly, she nuzzled closer and breathed in his familiar, warm scent.

“I dreamed about Sarah,” she told him without preamble.

His arms contracted around her. He grasped her body tightly. She could feel his prominent Adam’s apple move along her temple as he asked, “Was it like before?”

“Yeah.” She delved more deeply into his strength, tightening her arms around him. “The same and yet more...” her voice trailed off.

“Scary?” he supplied.

She nodded.

A huge sigh rattled his chest. “VEX is so close now, I guess we should have been prepared for it,” Jackson remarked as he pulled away several minutes later. She now missed his embrace but felt better. They always gave each other strength when they needed it.

“That’s what I was thinking, too.”

She went back over to the bed and sat cross-legged on it. Jackson joined her. “You know they’re going to throw a hundred thousand dollars at us when we get there, don’t you?”