Read Soul Control for Free Online Page B

old Winslow house.”
    It made me giggle, talking about a boy. “I’m sure Pat had a lot to say about them.”
    Mom laughed. “Yes, you would think so, but I didn’t hear it from her. Father Lacombe was the one who told me. He also joined us for dinner.”
    “Oh, cool.”
    With the tea cup safely on the table, she sat across from me. “We ran into him just as we were going in and asked him to join us.”
    “Did he know more about them?”
    She shrugged. “Not much, but he has met Mr. Braxton and his three boys. They’ve had a rough go of it. The boys’ mother abandoned them when they were only a month old and Mr. Braxton has raised them with no help ever since. To me, that seems like a very commendable thing. Father Lacombe said they seemed to be a very loving and nice family.”
    Poor Nathanael . “I couldn’t imagine how that would make me feel, going through life thinking your own mom didn’t want you.” That explained why he changed the subject so fast when we talked about my dad. He didn’t want me asking questions about his mom.
    “See honey, it’s a good thing you didn’t judge them just because they were having a party their first night in their new home. You never know what has happened in someone’s life to make them who they are, and only until you know them completely will you understand.”
    If she only knew the whole story. Mom was always very reflective when it came to people. Judging someone and listening to intuition were two very different, but substantial things.
    She giggled. “Okay, it’s ten-thirty, time for bed. You have to be up early.”
    All in all it was a good day, and hopefully the rest of the weekend would be too. Lugging my bones off the chair, I kissed Mom goodnight.
    “Good night, sweetheart,” she said.
    The idea of sleep was suddenly very appealing.
    ~ * ~
    ...“Capture it, Saydi!” Mom yelled from across the swimming hole, but I could barely hear her because of the wind.
    “Capture what?” I screamed. The air was heavy with a suffocating fear that sat heavy on my chest. The taste of lead saturated my mouth, drying it up.
    Mom’s hair whipped around behind her, waves crashed against the shore from the strength of the gale force...yet the wind didn’t touch me. She turned her attention to the side and my gaze followed hers. Nathanael stood alone, watching us with no expression. He lifted his arms, palms out, then closed his eyes.
    “Saydi!” Mom shrieked frantically. “Capture it!”
    In a panic, I looked around the whole parameter, searching for whatever it was she wanted me to capture. A deer drank water at the furthest edge of the pond unaware of the mayhem going on. Looking back to Mom, I asked, pointing, “That?”
    Mom didn’t hear me. She was watching Nathanael, only Nathanael wasn’t alone anymore. Job and Joshua were on each side of him with a taller person standing behind them, one whom I couldn’t quite make out. All three held that same stance as Nathanael. Their lips were moving quickly, saying something I couldn’t hear.
    Then...Nathanael snapped his head at me, his green/blue eyes wide and crisp as he curled his lips into a crooked grin, bearing his teeth, menacingly. “You’re too late!”
    ~ * ~
    Bolting up, I grabbed my chest and with shaking hands wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. The thickness of my blood pounded against my head with each thump. I was breathing so fast it took concentration to slow it down. Eventually I threw myself back down on the pillow, grasping my hair back. The dream replayed over and over, especially the look on Nathanael’s face.
    It scared me.
    For a few minutes I stared at the ceiling and waited for the hammering to stop and when it finally did, a glass of water sounded really good. Getting up, I turned my doorknob, but before it was open all the way, voices could be heard coming from the kitchen.
    “John, it can’t be happening!” Mom sounded like she was crying.
    A deep, calming voice drifted