Chapter 27

By the time Kayla's mother picked her up, around 9pm, the two of them had managed to get Kristen glowing brightly, even with having to be careful of the broken ankle. Glowing or not, though, the pain still took a lot out of her, and she was more than ready to call it an early night.

Mark was less happy to surrender to sleep, with good reason; the nightmares were still there, waiting for him. Though they were, at least, less real, less gripping than they were before, as if he'd already received the warning and they just served to reinforce it. They still made for restless, tossing slumber, though ... at least until about two in the morning, when Kristen woke him suddenly by nearly shoving him out of the bed.

He sat up, alarmed, reaching for her. "Love? What's wrong?" he asked, but she seemed to be still asleep. Her eyes were closed, anyway, but she shoved at him, straining against his arms. He shook her gently. "Wake up, love."

She screamed, and tore suddenly from his arms and was almost instantly across the room, hovering against the wall about six feet up.

"Kristen? Are you okay?" He scrambled out of bed, running towards her, and she pressed back against the wall, as if she were trying to go through it, her eyes still closed tightly. He moved to where he could catch her if she fell. "Love! Wake up!" he said sharply, and then he froze in sudden fear. She was through the wall, partway, as if it had a hole the shape of the back half of her body and she were pressed tightly into it. He stared in shocked horror for a moment, then yelled, "STEVEN!"

Kristen opened eyes full of fear and confusion, took one dazed look around, then passed out, falling limply as Mark dashed forward desperately to catch her, calling out again for Steven. He looked up, noting with only a part of his mind the unblemished wall, then turned and carried her to the bed. She was still glowing faintly, and he shook her, gently, still trying to wake her up.

Steven burst through the door, wearing only a pair of loose jogging pants, his eyes wild and frantic. "What's wrong?"

Mark looked up at him. "She was having a nightmare, I think. Um." He hesitated, then asked, "Did her mother ever, well, levitate?"

Steven blinked. "N ... no, I don't think so. She was incredibly graceful and light on her feet, but they did stay on the ground."

Mark looked back to Kristen, still gently trying to shake her awake. "Kristen does. But this time..." He looked up at the wall, checking one more time for a hole, then shook his head in wonder. "She was halfway through the wall. I think ... she's developing more abilities."

"Wait," Steven said, running a hand through his tousled hair. "Through the wall?"

"I don't know how," Mark said, "but she was. I'd say it was impossible, but so is everything else about her. I think I'm removing the word from my vocabulary."

Steven stared, then finally asked, "So what's wrong with her now? What happened? And why was she through the wall?"

"I don't know," Mark said, shaking her again, his own hands trembling. "She opened her eyes when I called you, then passed out. She woke me up by nearly shoving me out of the bed. I think she had a nightmare. I just hope it wasn't the same one I had last night. I don't ever want her to see what I did in that dream." He bent over and kissed her, tenderly, then stroked her face and called her name.

She moaned quietly and opened her eyes. "Mark?"

Relief flooded him. "Are you okay, love?"

She shook her head. "I feel ... strange. What ha-- Oh ... oh god, I had the most awful nightmare," she whispered hoarsely, going pale and starting to tremble.

He swallowed hard, and stroked the hair back from her face. "What was it, love?"