Read The Dark for Free Online Page B

OK.’
    ‘Jimmy will be back soon. You can talk to him too, you know.’
    Matt’s jaw drops open. ‘She doesn’t need Jimmy. I’m here!’
    ‘Of course you are,’ Mum says. ‘I didn’t mean—’
    I grab her hand. ‘It’s all right, Mum. Don’t worryabout Matt. I like Jimmy. I really do. I don’t mind at all that he lives here now.’
    Mum smiles and looks more relaxed. And once she’s sure I’m all right, she goes back to bed.
    Matt makes himself comfortable in my green inflatable lounge. ‘What was all that screaming about?’
    ‘I had a bad dream. And I thought I only screamed once.’
    He shrugs. ‘You didn’t have another of those weird visions, did you?’
    As soon as he says this, my heart, which is only just starting to slow down, leaps half-way up my throat. Could it have been a vision? Everyone knows how depressed Laura is. She never got over losing her daughter, Sera, thirteen years ago. And didn’t Ethan say something only the other day about how she isn’t getting any better, even though his father’s been so supportive? And that even the doctors think she should be making a recovery by now, but can’t understand why she isn’t?
    ‘Oh hell!’
    ‘What did you see?’ Matt asks.
    Matt’s question has me shifting straight into denial. I mean, it was a dream , not a vision , like that other one when my head felt as if it was going to explode. There was none of that pain or light this time. My concern for Ethan and his mother brought it on, that’s all. If I tell Ethan it will only make him more worried, and he worries like hell as it is.
    ‘Isabel?’
    But if I don’t tell Ethan, and it was a vision …? Maybe there was no pain ’cause I was in that relaxed state of near sleep, and wasn’t in a position to fight or tense up.
    ‘Isabel! What the hell is going on? Speak to me.’
    I hold my hand up to stop Matt’s questions from interrupting my thoughts. I need a couple more seconds to figure this out. The last time I experienced a vision, the reality occurred only seconds later. This notion has me scooting out of bed and stumbling through a dark hallway towards the phone.
    Matt follows and switches on a light. ‘When are you going to realise that you don’t have to solve every problem on your own?’
    I bring the phone half-way to my ear. ‘What did you say?’
    ‘You’re not alone in this world, Isabel. You don’t have to prove you can do everything by yourself. It’s about time you realised he’s not coming back.’
    My mouth forms a soundless gasp. He never talks about Dad! ‘You’re out of line.’
    ‘Am I? Then why do you resent my help so much?’ He turns away.
    ‘Look,’ I call out. ‘I didn’t mean to ignore you before. My dream has nothing to do with … whatever crazy place your thoughts are right now. And just for the record, I’m used to doing things for myself. I like it that way. That’s all there is to it.’ I can see he doesn’t believe me. ‘Your idea of helping me is more like total suffocation.’
    My words sting, but I don’t have time for this right now. ‘I have to ring Ethan, OK?’
    He glances around the hallway as if searching for a clock on the wall. ‘Isn’t it a bit late to be making phone calls?’
    I brush him away with a wave of my hand, covering the mouthpiece for a second. ‘I have to make this one.’
    He groans. ‘Don’t tell me you’re still fantasising over Ethan. Were you dreaming about him again?’
    Now why does he have to bring my past infatuation into the conversation? ‘Go away,’ I hiss at him. ‘I told you I’m over Ethan.’
    ‘Well I don’t believe you,’ he says, but wanders back to his room anyway.
    On the seventh ring Ethan answers in a groggy voice, ‘Yeah?’
    ‘Ethan, it’s me.’
    ‘Huh? Isabel? What’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping so you can be transported to the Citadel?’
    ‘Yes, but …’
    He reads my silence correctly. ‘Oh no, did you have a vision or