Chapter 11

Nights in suburban neighborhoods are never completely silent, but the muted noises surrounding Elena aren't loud enough to draw anyone's attention, and if she's lucky, should actually help mask her departure. The Bronstad's air conditioner unit rumbles to life as she's passing, making her flinch and shy away.

Stop it!

If anyone sees her skulking about, they'll know immediately that she's up to something. Better to walk straight down the middle of the side yard until she's reached the sidewalk by the street, turn, and stroll off without a backward glance. At least she knows where Gavin lives now.

Laura's plan had worked for the most part. Both of their mothers had been shocked when they saw Elena's injured hand, but it had certainly distracted them from her earlier pool mishap, and the stupid excuse of accidently slamming it in her bedroom door had actually seemed to give them faith that she was all right. Parents could be so weird sometimes.

Finding Gavin's address had been a bit more difficult, simply because online property pictures tended to focus on the insides of houses, not their outside. They had gone to Google Earth with a few of the more likely addresses, and she had finally managed to pick out his street from one of the satellite views.

She was alone because Laura had not been given permission to sleep over. Her parents were going out that evening, and Laura was expected to babysit her brothers.

"Shit Elena, I'm sorry. I totally forgot this was their date night."

"Don't worry about it," she had answered, "it'll be easier if I'm alone when I talk to Gavin anyway."

Which was true, but company on the walk over to his house would've still been nice.

She's grateful when she sees her street is deserted. There's almost always one or two kids goofing around outside before midnight, but not tonight. The only sign of life is at Mr. P's house across the street; his garage door's open, and inside, the lights above his work area are on ... As she steps on to the sidewalk, he turns, spots her, and raises the piece of wood he's holding in mock salute.

"Sneaking out?"

She freezes for a second, and then tries to cover it with a small laugh. "Uh, no, nothing so exciting. I ... I'm waiting for a letter, and thought I'd check the mail."

She can walk to the neighborhood mailboxes around the corner, pretend to check for a letter, return home, and then try sneaking out through Laura's yard instead.

Ramon leans the piece of wood against his workbench, and strolls towards her. "Mind if I walk with you?"

Shit, shit, shit!

She could just run, but there's no way he wouldn't tell her parents, and then the shit would really hit the fan. She had been so stupid not to have planned for this. Ramon Perez was almost always outside his house, puttering around in the yard, washing his car, or building something in the garage. He and his wife, Gloria, were retired, and didn't have any kids of their own. Aside from her grandparents, they were the only older couple Elena knew well, and while she wouldn't have called them friends exactly, both of them had always been friendly.

Floundering for some sort of plausible excuse, she finally slaps her forehead and groans. "Sorry Mr. P, I'm such an idiot. I didn't bring the mailbox key with me." She shrugs, "I'll just check it tomorrow."

Ramon crosses the street while she's babbling her excuse, and steps on to the sidewalk in front of her. "It's okay, Elena. I'm not going to tell anyone you've snuck out, but I really would like to talk with you for a little while."

There are adults Elena knows better than to trust, men who always seem to be undressing her with their eyes, or others who make inappropriate comments when her parents aren't around, but Ramon Perez has never made her feel like that. Because he's outside so much, every kid in the neighborhood knows him, and unless they're troublemakers, all of them like him. This is a little weird, but as long as he's not going to rat her out, what harm will it do to listen to him?

"Uh, okay." She waves at his open garage, "You gonna close that?"

He follows her gesture with his eyes, and then frowns in concern when he sees the white bandage wrapped around her hand. "What did you do to your hand?"

Elena sighs. "Something really stupid. It's okay, Laura's mom wrapped it for me."

Ramon nods, and pulling the garage remote from his jeans pocket, pushes the button to lower the door.

Neither one of them speaks as they walk to the street corner, and when they arrive, Ramon turns right with no hesitation, away from the mailboxes for the houses on their street. Since it's the same way she needs to go to reach Gavin's house, Elena makes no objection. Is it possible that he knows where she's going? But no, that's stupid, how could he?

"This is hard for me," Ramon finally says, slowing his pace so that they're walking side-by-side, "I'm not used to taking an active role."

"An active role in what?" Elena asks, puzzled.

"When Gloria and I moved here three years ago, the outward reason, the reason I used to convince her it was a good idea, was that her sister and brother lived in Austin, and now that we were both retired, we could spend more time with them and their families."

Elena nods. He's obviously working up to something, and she has plenty of time to let him tell his story. The only complication is that they'll need to turn right at the next intersection, and then walk straight for several blocks if she doesn't mind him knowing where she's going. She can always retrace her steps if she needs to, but what will it mean if he stays on route and makes the turn with no comment?

"That wasn't the real reason though," Ramon continues, "you were."

"I ... I was what?"

Perhaps now would be a good time to start running.

"You must've considered the possibility, wondered if you were the only person in the world who could see visions of the future?"

Elena stops, and so does Ramon, both of them standing unmoving for several seconds. "You know?" Elena whispers, staring up into his gentle brown eyes.

"Yes, I know," he says calmly, holding her gaze.

Slowly, she turns away from him, and stares down the empty street they've been following. The pools of light cast by the street lamps seem suddenly dim, besieged by encroaching darkness on all sides. Wherever Gavin was now, was the darkness still hunting him?

"So, you moved here three years ago," she says, "but never did or said anything to let me know I wasn't all alone? Seems like a lot of wasted effort."

"Elena, I wasn't sent here to be your teacher," his voice is kind, but neither apologetic or defensive, "I was sent here to watch for a very specific occurrence."

You weren't the only one waiting around for him to show up.

"Gavin?" she says, turning back to face him.

He inclines his head in agreement. "Do you mind if we keep walking? There's a lot I need to tell you, and we'll draw less attention if we're moving."

Elena considers his request for a moment, and then nods. She'll walk with him, but he'll have to lead; she won't knowingly take him anywhere near Gavin, not yet.

"First," he begins walking again, and she stays beside him, "you should know a few things about the community you could become part of. Obviously, the ability you have is rare, but it's even more uncommon for children who develop it to mature into full adolescence."

"What happens to the ones that don't?" They are approaching the intersection she's been waiting for.

"Burn out," he replies, looking away from her.

"That sounds ... Unpleasant."

"It can be," Ramon admits, "but only in the most extreme cases." They reach the street corner, and without hesitation, he turns right and continues walking.

So, that settles that.

"Keep in mind, even for those who successfully mature to adolescence with the ability, the majority don't have anything close to your talent. They only see glimmers of the future, momentary intuitions that are easy enough to dismiss as coincidence. The ones that burn out don't typically notice much of a difference; perhaps a slight reduction in their IQ score, or a minor loss of creativity."

"So, I'm both lucky and talented." She makes a throw away gesture with her bandaged hand. "Why were you waiting for three years? How does meeting Gavin change things?"

"Right now, you have no control over the visions you are shown in the Dreamscape. You're pulled in, observe what we call a decision nexus, and then pushed back out." Elena nods impatiently. "The only way to enhance the talent you have is to pair bond with someone who complements your ability. In your case, that person is Gavin."

Pair bond? No, I won't ask him about that.

"It's that big a change?"

Ramon hesitates. "Understand, the balance of power in the community is very delicate. As I'm sure you've already figured out, there are individuals who would be happy to kill either one of you in order to prevent you from gaining that kind of power."

And there it is. How hard should she push him?

"Yeah, I sorta figured that out when they tried to drown me earlier today. If Gavin hadn't been there, I don't think I'd be talking to you right now."

Ramon nods. "I agree."

Nice!

Her anger boils over. "What the fuck's your deal?" she snarls, stepping in front of him. "They tried to kill him too! Is that why you came out of the closet, your rule book says they're only allowed one murder attempt a day?"

Ramon stops, but doesn't retreat from her outburst. "My group only takes an active role when it becomes absolutely necessary. Individuals who repeatedly attempt to manipulate events to their own advantage inevitably end up in a very nasty place."

"How sad for them," Elena scoffs, "is it nastier than being dead?"

"It can be, sometimes."

"Oh please!" She spins away from him, and after a brief moment continues walking. "Why are you here?"

"In the beginning, just to watch. You had great potential as a dreamer who could foretell events, but we had no way of knowing whether or not the Dreamscape would match you to someone with whom you could successfully pair bond. When I saw you and Gavin together yesterday, I suspected that the potential was there, but chose to consult with the other members of my group before meeting with you. Obviously, someone else was faster off the mark."