Sundial

by C. F. Fruzzetti

  “Easy! Easy. I didn’t mean it like that. I can see I have some explaining to do. Let me start at the beginning. Two years ago, some Navy SEALs saw me swim and offered to let me give the Poseidon Program a try. I did well enough there that last summer I did the SERE School.”

  “SERE School? I haven’t heard of that before,” I interrupted. I hated how everything was an acronym in the military.

  “SERE School is Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. No offense, but it is a little more hard-core than your ‘survival camp.’ Although I will give you props for keeping that clueless kid from breaking his neck and taking the fall yourself instead. They should have checked the fences along the course better.”

  He knew way too much detail about that day and he was letting me know it. It was unnerving and provoked me.

  “How do you know that? I know I never told you about it.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t like feeling so exposed.

  My brain was connecting the dots that Reid had hacked into a deeper level of information about me that I kept private. If he knew about that, it worried me to think what else he could know about me.

  “I know, I sort of tricked Blair into telling me. I made the wrong guess and she filled in the blanks for me,” Reid said sheepishly. The better I knew Reid, the easier it was for me to glean when he was not being entirely truthful. He was dodging something, but without Blair here I couldn’t call him on it. My brain was busy wondering if the Poseidon Program had anything to do with Clarion. Maybe this was a cover? Could he have read my file?

  “Don’t you have to be enlisted for SERE School?” I asked. I could feel my body getting tense as an air of clandestine familiarity wrapped around me. It was a feeling I associated with bad memories.

  “I told you, Admiral Bennett is running a special program called Poseidon. SEALs are looking for the best swimmers in the country and recruiting them for the program. Somehow, they missed your mixed relay team…” Reid laughed and it lightened the mood.

  I couldn’t resist giving him a punch on the arm. I realized that Blair and I must have sounded ridiculous to him when we were bragging about our NVSL records. There was no way I matched this level of swim competition. If he had speed that matched his height, he would be like a torpedo.

  “Your tattoo is from Poseidon, then?” I asked. I recalled the missing anchor that was for the Navy. At least Reid wasn’t enlisted…yet.

  “It’s an identifier for my protection…if I’m captured for any reason,” Reid answered. I felt my eyes soften as I thought about what that meant. He must be training for covert operations and I knew that always carried a high degree of risk.

  My mom had been under “nonofficial cover” when she was killed. She was supposed to be safer posed as a nongovernment employee. It was never proven her cover was blown but it didn’t matter to me. She was gone. As a result, relying on others to keep me safe was something I didn’t do—I preferred to evoke the phrase my survival camp director used: “Whenever possible always self-rescue—depend on the one person you can trust—yourself.”

  I could feel numbness creeping up from the base of my neck. I willed the head rush to stay at bay.

  “Well, I guess you can tell Admiral Bennett I wasn’t as smart as he thought. Congratulations. You will make an excellent James Bond, or were you going for Bruce Wayne?” I said defensively. The game was over and so were we, I assumed.

  The numbness was rising. I cursed inwardly, wondering if I would be able to get out of the car before the head rush hit.

  “Have you considered that I could also be your future?” Reid boldly confronted me. His eyes blazed and I could see his pulse quicken in his neck. The blast of his question rattled me.

  “What do you mean by that?” I said through clenched teeth. It was an assumption I wasn’t able to believe, and I was about to pass out. I looked around the car for something sweet or salty to try to control my looming collapse. I opened his glove compartment. Two epinephrine pens fell out as I grabbed a roll of Certs and popped one in my mouth.

  “I mean that I have fallen in love with you, and as far as I’m concerned, you are my future,” Reid fired back in a frustrated annoyance.

  I stopped picking up the EpiPens and looked up at him in shock. I took a shallow breath. There seemed to be no oxygen left in the car. I was speechless.

  Then I felt the rough calluses of his hands graze across my cheek and the electric jolt of his kiss. There was a roaring in my ears and dizziness swirling in my brain before it went dark.

  “Jeez, Whitney. You have got to stop doing that. It scares me,” Reid said as my eyes fluttered open. Reid was holding me up by my shoulders.

  “That makes two of us. It has been awhile since I’ve had so many. They are probably triggered from being harassed too much by a big brute who always wants his own way,” I said sarcastically. My voice sounded far away to my ears. Reid gently smiled.

  “Or that your brain short circuits when there is a suggestion you compromise,” he joked.

  I rubbed my temples to chase the dull ache in my head away. I needed to get inside and have a drink of water. “What are these for?” I asked when I remembered the EpiPens scattered on the floor.

  “I have a peanut allergy,” Reid answered. “Haven’t I mentioned that?”

  “No! Shouldn’t you have? What if I had eaten peanut butter and you kissed me? Wouldn’t that have made you sick?” I questioned him in concern. He looked sheepish and embarrassed.

  I felt like he had sucker punched me. If he kept that from me, it made me wonder what else was he was hiding. Didn’t he trust me? “Why would you keep something like that from me?”

  “I wasn’t exactly keeping it from you. I don’t advertise it. That’s all. You don’t wear a bracelet that says you pass out unexpectedly or that your hands are always unnaturally cold. No one likes to highlight they are different in high school. It is like putting a target on your back.” Reid sighed in frustration.

  “Have you ever considered being different makes you extraordinary? Maybe you are getting something out of it other than just carrying a burden?” I huffed. My mind was thinking about his vigilance and extreme awareness of his surroundings. Traits my dad was always trying to instill in me.

  “I don’t know, have you considered that being different makes you extraordinary? You are not exactly advertising what sets you apart either. Besides, you never eat peanut butter. You told me you think it tastes like dirt,” Reid said defensively. “I’m not exactly irresponsible about it.”

  What did he mean, had I considered being different made me extraordinary? I chose to ignore my inner panic and put the focus back on him.

  “That seems like a risk not worth taking, Reid. I still eat Chinese food, Thai food, granola bars…” I racked my brain trying to recall what else I might eat that had peanuts. “I don’t even know what else I eat that has peanuts because I have never paid attention to it! You haven’t even given me the chance to help protect you. This relationship is not a one-way street, Reid. When I pass out and you are there, I have no choice but to accept your help. If you had a reaction to peanuts I wouldn’t have even known where your EpiPen was if I hadn’t found it on accident.” I pushed his hand away as he touched my shoulder in an effort to calm me down. He must not think very much of me if he didn’t think I could handle this.

  “This is not about you, Whitney. Trust me, I am more careful than you can imagine. I didn’t tell you because I was trying not to give you something else to worry about, but I can see I made a mistake. Come on, we can finish this up later. I’m sure it won’t be hard for you to find something else to fight with me about but right now you should get a drink,” he said, helping me out of the car. Reid was right—I was extremely thirsty but I was still angry. I was trained to only take calculated risks and Reid was being foolish. Maybe he wasn’t as smart as I thought.

  Inside my house, I drained two glasses of water and explained to Reid that all I needed was to get some sleep.
Tomorrow, I promised, I would be much better and I would call him as soon as I woke up in the morning. He reluctantly agreed after I convinced him with a yawn and a sleepy kiss goodnight.

  As I closed the door behind him, I could feel my calm facade crumbling. How could he not have told me about his peanut allergy? Did he really say he loved me? Did he mean it?

  My panic attack was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. I knew it could only be Blair so I reached for the receiver like a smoke inhalation victim reaching for an oxygen mask.

  “Oh good, I was hoping you would be home. Let’s recap!” she said with exploding excitement. “What a great day! Did you see I sat with Patrick all day? You were a genius to think of looking up Real Madrid’s soccer score in the sports section of The Post before I saw him today. His mouth almost hit the deck when I asked him if he was glad they won. Well, what did you think?”

  Blair’s enthusiasm grounded me and refocused my thoughts. “I think Patrick is totally into you. He lights up when he is with you. He never left your side. I’m glad our soccer idea worked. How about the computer? Did you ask him to come over and help you install that new version of Word?” I questioned.

  We had concocted a few ideas to bring Patrick and Blair closer together. I thought they would make a perfect couple and I hoped Patrick would get up the courage to make a move in that direction.

  “No, I didn’t get to mention that. I’ll have to use it next time. Unfortunately, I went home with Gary and Eileen. It seemed too awkward otherwise. He parked all the way up by the Club and the Jeep was right by the boat. I don’t want to blow it by being too obvious,” Blair explained.

  “Good call,” I agreed. “I think he should be getting the hint that you like him. He has to put some work into it.”

  “Everything OK on your end? Why do you sound so wiped out?” Blair said with an undercurrent of concern.

  “He told me he is in love with me,” I told Blair in a flat voice. I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of Redskins boxer shorts. I walked into my blinding yellow bathroom to brush my teeth.

  “He told you he loved you? And you aren’t giddy or at least even somewhat happy? I can’t even detect a smile in your voice,” Blair questioned. I knew she was analyzing the situation better than any super computer.

  “He told me he thought of me as his future. That is a lot of pressure. My future is SATs, college applications, seeing the world, and maybe becoming an anthropologist. I don’t think I can be saddled down by such a serious relationship.”

  “Yeah, well. We know how well your past relationships have worked out for you. You are practically bored to tears. You suffer through them until you lose patience,” Blair laughed. “Reid is the first guy who at least has your attention. What did you do? Did you tell him you loved him?”

  “No! Thankfully, he kissed me after he said it so I didn’t have to say anything,” I scoffed, and snuggled under my white comforter. I didn’t want to think about what I would say to him. That was a question I was not prepared to answer. After talking it out with Blair, I was feeling much better.

  “Did you at least kiss him back?” Blair quizzed. “I hope you gave him some kind of sign you like him, Whitney.”

  “Blair, I passed out. My head rushes are back with a vengeance. I have got to get them under control. I think I am freaking him out and I hate to look like such a weakling around him,” I complained.

  “It’s been such a long time that you’ve had one I thought you had outgrown them. I think you had better get Dr. West’s help immediately. If you have one in school they might not let you get your driver’s license,” Blair said. “I can go with you if you want. I can even ask Eileen to drive if you need a ride. I know your dad is still out of town.”

  “Yeah, I’m calling Dr. West first thing in the morning,” I said with a yawn. “I’m going to see if Reid can drive me. Otherwise, I might take you up on a lift. I hate to make you go all that way, though.”

  “Don’t worry about that. But maybe it would be good for Dr. West to see you around Reid. Maybe he could determine if you need some Reid-antidote,” Blair joked. “They seem to be happening only around him.”

  “Yeah, maybe I’m allergic to him. That would be par for the course. I finally find someone I actually like but I can’t be around him. How’s that for tragic?”

  Tomorrow, I could try to unravel why I kept having these head rushes and the nagging thought that it was beyond coincidence Reid knew Blair and Adam were with me at survival camp. I had to figure out if there was any chance Reid could be different…like me.

  He did not seem to have the same abilities, but there was one person who might have some insight and help me analyze what I thought Reid was capable of without sounding like I was crazy. His name was Dr. Reginald West. He was the chairman of The Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia and could hopefully provide me with some answers that made sense.

  “Talk about fireworks! At least this is one Fourth of July you will never forget,” Blair laughed.

  “That’s for certain,” I said, then told Blair goodbye and hung up the phone. I closed my eyes, grateful for the darkness and to get some sleep.

  Chapter Nine: Dr. West

  When I heard him pick up the phone, I couldn’t control the hurried rush of the words. They trampled past me, eager to get out.

  “Hi, Dr. West. It’s Whitney. I need to see you as soon as possible. My nightmares are back and I think my new boyfriend might be working for Clarion. Or, if he’s not working for Clarion, he has some kind of sensing abilities that are different from mine. He knows too much. Maybe he’s read my government file. Something is going on and I can’t explain it.” I took a deep breath. I hadn’t even known I was thinking these thoughts until I said them aloud.

  “Hello to you too, Wink. Have you had too much coffee this morning?” Dr. West asked in his usual subdued tone. He used my childhood nickname. As a toddler I couldn’t say Whitney so it came out Winkey. Wink stuck but I didn’t hear it much anymore. My mom called me Wink the most and my dad stopped saying it after she died.

  I could have used some coffee. I had not slept well. Nightmares of Reid tormented my sleep.

  The first nightmare was the one where I was locked inside a government laboratory and could not escape. I had had this dream before except this time there was someone next to me in the lab. I couldn’t make myself look over to see who it was. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach it was Reid.

  “No. No coffee. I’m just jittery. I had that dream again last night about the camp. I haven’t seen that vision in years. Since I’ve met Reid, everything is unraveling. I’m having trouble keeping my visions at bay and he seems to actually trigger my head rushes. It’s like he has some kind of kryptonite under his skin.” I was having difficulty keeping my voice steady. I was used to my crystal clear world and murky confusion was trying my patience. I heard Dr. West take a deep breath.

  “Whitney, don’t worry. We will figure it out. Can you come this morning?” Dr. West asked in his slow, methodical way. I picked up on the resolute vibration in his quiet voice. It calmed me down. “Bring him with you to the office. Be sure to take the back way and park in the garage. I will be waiting.”

  “OK,” I agreed. Relief got a foothold in my mind. It would be all right. Dr. West would have an answer. I had to get to Charlottesville and that was about a two-hour drive. Hopefully, I would be able sleep on the way back.

  I thought about the other dream I had before I was frightened awake. I had seen Reid getting hit over and over again. His lip was bleeding and he seemed dazed. I wanted him to get out of the way but he kept getting back up and going back down. I was shouting at him to move but what really unsettled me was when his eyes darted toward me and then away. I knew he heard me but was ignoring me. The brutality made me nauseous. I didn’t want to watch but I was too concerned to look away.

  I wished I could tell myself these were only dreams but I did not live in denial. What I saw
in these sorts of nightmares often became reality. I did not enjoy seeing events ahead of time. It reminded me I was often powerless to stop them. Free will and choice could shape the future if there was enough of a head start.

  I kept the phone in my hand. I still had two more calls to make. First, I called Reid to ask for a ride to a morning doctor’s appointment. Then I called Blair to tell her I was going to Charlottesville.

  Blair knew Dr. West was a neurologist at the University of Virginia who managed my neurocardiogenic syncope. She was glad I had gotten a morning appointment. I agreed with her on the phone that it was lucky Dr. West had a spot for me but didn’t mention the reason I was telling her about my appointment was so that someone would know where I went. I think she knew that anyway.

  My neurocardiogenic syncope was a result of my abnormally low blood pressure. I had to stay hydrated and eat plenty of salt. Usually it was easy to control: I drank lots of water and ate a lot of pretzels. Well, it had been easy to control until recently. I had not needed to use medication to sleep for years. That made me think something had changed in my environment, and the common denominator of every head rush seemed to be Reid.

  What Blair and most other people didn’t know about Dr. West was that he was also a parapsychologist. Parapsychologists study the evidence for psychological phenomena such as psychokinesis, telepathy, and clairvoyance. Dr. West was one of the best parapsychologists in the country. He trained at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory.

  His closest friend, Dr. Stephen Cohen, was a theoretical physicist working in quantum mechanics and string theory. Interestingly, Dr. Cohen’s research supported Dr. West’s statistical research that had rocked the science community fifteen years ago when they proved ESP did exist. Their research also garnered the attention of the CIA, and they left Princeton to start a fully funded government lab under a new initiative called the Clarion Program.