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seemed so wrong not to say anything, to sit back silently and watch as the dark danger loomed ahead, a shadow rising over their lives.
    He should warn her.
    But what could he say? That shadows loomed in their future? That some faceless, nameless evil was on its way to them, chasing him?
    “I wish you would talk to me,” she said.
    “Mom, you can’t help. Don’t you get it? I lied when I told you that I’d grown out of it. The truth is, it’s worse than ever, but it’s changed. If someone touches me, I can read their thoughts, things I don’t want to know. I get these flashes of what’s going to happen to them tomorrow, or next week. And when I go to bed, oh, crap…” He pressed his palms to his face, wishing he could hide there. “I’m afraid to fall asleep, afraid to have one of the dreams.” God, he hated admitting that he was afraid… hated it. He was too old to be afraid.
    “About what? What are the nightmares about?” she asked.
    “There’s the nightmare where I’m being chased through a city. Scarier than it sounds. And then the one where a dark figure keeps whispering that he’s my father.”
    Her hands tightened on his ankle. “Sounds very Luke Skywalker. Have you ever thought that maybe they’re just normal nightmares. Not that they aren’t scary, but—”
    His sharp gaze cut off her thoughts. “It’s not normal, okay. We both know it. Just ’cuz you don’t want to believe it, don’t want to think that I’m different , doesn’t change things. And I’m not ‘special,’ I’m a freak. And the things I see at night, in my dreams, they scare the sh—crap out of me.” He stared at his mother as if he could will her to believe him. “What I see at night. It’s coming closer and, I think, I swear, Mom, there’s someone evil involved. A guy…chasing me.”
    “Who?” Her eyes were dark with worry as she leaned over him.
    He held back the truth, knowing she’d freak if he used the word killer . “I can’t see his face, but I feel his presence. I can feel him getting closer, his breath on my back. He’s coming after me, Mom.” He sat up, his heart beating so hard he felt the pulse pound in his ears. “He’s on his way, and he’s trouble, Mom. Big trouble.”
    She shook her head, not so much disbelieving him but wanting to ward off the evil. “You’re going to be okay, Jon,” she said, folding him into her arms. “You know you’re safe here.”
    Once he’d felt safe in his mother’s arms, but not anymore. She couldn’t protect him from getting slammed by a kid like Todd Neider, and no one, not even his mother, could save him from his nightmares.
    “Why do you think I’m having nightmares about my father now?” he asked.
    “You’re growing up, probably wondering about him.”
    “You never talk about him.” Probably because of the way he died, Jon thought. The accident sounded awful, but sometimes his mom acted as if the world had stopped spinning the day Dad and Erin died.
    As usual, his mom veered off the topic of Dad. “You’re going to be fine,” she said. “Just give things some time.”
    Leaning into her shoulder, he noted the shadows in the corner of his room, at bay for the moment, but still threatening to rise into inky blackness. His mother meant well, but she couldn’t protect him from the future.
    From the darkness nipping at his heels.
    From the voices whispering of his father.
    From the person chasing him through the dark city streets.
    His pursuer.
    His killer.

Chapter 2
    “You new here?” the bartender asked as he mopped up a spill and refilled Daegan’s glass when it was only half empty. The Plug Nickel Saloon was doing a banner after-work business. A small crowd was huddled near the television set watching the World Series, others were scattered at tables, talking, joking, and drinking. Cigarette smoke hung heavy despite the fans whirring overhead.
    “Yep,” Daegan said, deciding to reveal as little about himself as