A few more places turns out to be three, but the two hours we spend tromping through the trees passes quickly. When Sibeal finally calls the photo shoot complete, I am amazed that we did so much. I want to look at the pictures right then. By this point, though, there are way too many to click through on her camera. So we hurry back to her house and download everything onto her computer.
It takes another hour and a half to go through all the pictures and choose the best ones. Out of nearly five hundred pictures, we manage to narrow it down to about twenty. Well, Sibeal does most of the work. I think they all look amazing. Her more critical eye catches flaws that make her nix many of them. I’m excited when she hands over a CD filled with the pictures.
“Thank you so much, Sibeal. My mom is going to love these.”
Sibeal surprises me by reaching out for a hug. “Thank you for talking me into doing this. I really needed it.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help,” I say as we reach the living room.
Remembering my mission again, I pretend to just now notice some of the items on the fireplace mantle. I walk over and look at them carefully. Pointing to the beautiful metal sculpture of a tree, I ask Sibeal, “What is this? It’s gorgeous!”
She walks over to mantle and smiles. “It’s a sculpture of the tree of life. The ancient Celtics believed some trees were sacred and had magical properties. It’s my mom’s favorite piece, and mine, too.”
“I don’t know very much about the Celtic religion. Is it still practiced today?”
Sibeal shrugs. “Yes, I believe so, but it’s hard to tell how much of what is practiced today is original to the religion. I don’t know very much about it either. My mom mostly just likes to collect artwork to remind us of our heritage.”
“Well, she picked a beautiful one.”
I want to stay longer and try to pick Sibeal’s brain a little more, but I’ve run out of time.
“Well, I better get going. My brother is leaving today and I’m supposed to meet them for lunch before we take him back to the airport.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sibeal exclaims. “I took up your whole morning!”
I wave off her concern. “Don’t worry about it. David and my parents went golfing. I don’t feel bad about missing that at all. I am way too impatient for golf.”
“Oh good,” Sibeal says. “Have fun taking your brother back. Is Bas going with you again?”
I shake my head, not wanting to dredge thoughts of Bas back up. “Oh, no. My parents are free, so we’re all driving up together.”
“That’s nice. Well, I’ll see you at school tomorrow, I guess.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
After leaving Sibeal’s house feeling like I actually accomplished something, I rush home to meet my parents. I don’t buy Sibeal’s spiel that her mom is just collecting artwork. Sibeal worships something that gave her the power I saw in the dream. Judging from the mini shrine in her room and the artwork on the mantle, Sibeal knows a lot more about the Celtic religion than she’s willing to admit. Learning more will have to wait, though.
***
The exhaustion I feel climbing into bed after hiking around with Sibeal all morning, and driving back and forth to Portland with my family, should send me right into sleep’s embrace. It probably would have if not for my last conversation with David before he got on his plane. It keeps running through my head.
“So,” David says when Mom and Dad step away for a few minutes, “that was an interesting coaching session you and Bas had yesterday.”
“What?”
David looks at me, his expression hard. “I saw you with Bas, him with his hands strategically placed.”
“You were already gone,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“Actually, Dani caught me at the car. I saw the whole thing.”
“Great, are you going to give me another lecture?” I turn away from him. “Besides, it’s not what you’re thinking. He was just correcting my posture. He wasn’t even very nice about it.”
David comes up behind me and drapes his arms over my shoulders, pulling me against his chest, half hug, half wrestling hold. “I’m not going to give you a lecture about anything.” He nudges me with his head. “You’re wrong, though, about what happened with Bas. He may not have been all gentle and sweet about what he was doing, but your posture was hardly the only thing on his mind.”
That strange feeling of panic starts building in my chest again. I don’t want to think about what Bas’s real motives may have been. I just don’t. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you should realize what’s going on,” he says simply. “I’m not trying to push you one way or the other, they’re both good guys, but you either need to make sure Bas understands where you two stand before it ruins more than one relationship, or you need to rethink who you’re with.”
“But…but, I don’t even like Bas!” I whine.
My big brother squeezes my shoulders and puts his head down next to mine. “You keep saying that, but I don’t think you really believe it.”
That was where David left it, but it hardly ended the discussion. I’ve been arguing with myself all night. I toss and turn in my bed, images of moments spent with Bas replaying in my head. Some convince me that he really is a good guy and the friendship I pretend I don’t have with him could easily turn into something more. Then, a moment later, all the obnoxious, arrogant things he’s said and done come crowding back in and I’m sure that’s the real Bas showing his true colors.
All I want is to go to sleep. The need to fall into oblivion consumes me, but when it finally comes, all I want is to escape it.
***
She runs through the trees, her eyes darting back behind her frequently. It isn’t the panic of being followed that shows in her eyes, but a malicious glee. One she runs with. Her sandaled feet leave the trail and cut through the grass and flowers to a familiar meadow.
As her pace slows, her eyes scan the meadow for her prize. She comes to a stop and takes great care to compose herself and soften her expression. Success is impossible, not complete success, at least. As her breathing slows, her face mellows into something more inviting. Her eyes, though, maintain their sparkle of spitefulness.
The valley is quiet around her, but not peaceful as it once was. The tone is hushed, on edge, as if it knows something is about to happen. Even for it being night, the woods are unnaturally quiet except for the rustle of someone disturbing the plant life.
Her eyes look up, catching sight of the young man with strong shoulders and deep brown hair. “Colin,” she whispers quietly. Her lips turn up in a wicked smile.
Colin’s face lights up as soon as he steps out of the trees and sees her. Excitement carries his feet forward more quickly. There is excitement in her eyes as well, but it is not as pure. Hers does not come from love, but from a desire to cause pain. Colin is blind to her intentions. He sees only the visage of the girl he loves and wants to share the night with.
When they meet, his arms slide around her waist and pull her into a gentle embrace. Colin’s lips are soft against hers. Every touch and kiss are thoughtful and delicate. His caresses are meant to show his love. Her impatience refuses to wait. As her mouth presses against his more hungrily, his body is a slave to her desires.
A moment of sweet and tender love turns quickly into one of passion. Their bodies fall among the flowers and grasses, pieces of clothing lost along the way. A new feeling covers the valley, and it is not one of love. Emptiness bursts through the trees as the snapping of fallen branches announces the arrival of a pale haired girl with tears streaming down her face.
“Colin?” she whispers, her tiny voicing cutting through the night and slicing into his thoughts.
All passion is forgotten as he looks away from the woman he thought he loved to find the real source of his affection cowering in the trees. “Sibeal?” he says in disbelief.
His eyes snap back and forth from the girl in the trees to the gi
rl who just stole his innocence. He scrambles to his feet, tugging on clothes and panicking. Confused beyond belief, Colin tries to discern what is happening and how there are two Sibeals.
“I don’t understand,” he says with wide eyes.
Sibeal’s chin trembles as she looks at her carbon copy. “Darcy, how could you?” she cries.
The smile that splits Darcy’s face is brimming with hatred. “Now you know what it feels like to have everything taken away from you, little sister.”
Chapter Seventeen
My feet pound down the sidewalk to meet Tanner as soon as I can escape the house Monday morning. It’s the first time I’ve actually beat him to the corner. The look of surprise on his face when he sees me already waiting would have made me laugh if not for the fact that I am about to burst!
Tanner tries to pull me in for a kiss, but I don’t have time for that. “She has a twin sister!”
“What?” Tanner asks.
“Sibeal! I had another dream last night. You won’t believe what I saw!” I run my hands through my hair. “We weren’t seeing good Sibeal and bad Sibeal. We were seeing Sibeal as the sweet, shy girl she is, and then getting glimpses of the terrible things her sister Darcy has done. I think she’s the one who beat up Sibeal and locked her in her room in the second dream.”
Tanner starts walking toward the school in stunned silence. “A twin sister? Are you sure?”
I find his question really annoying, but I try not to take it personally. “Yes, I’m sure! I saw them both in the dream last night. They were definitely two separate people.”
“Wow. There’s two of them?” Tanner shakes his head. “I did not expect that. I really thought she had some serious psychological issues or something.”
“No, just a crazy sister.” I could hardly believe it when I woke up. I never even considered it. Rubbing at my tired eyes, I try to stay focused. “It does explain a lot about her parents insistence on privacy, all of the articles only calling her ‘daughter,’ and Sibeal’s total lack of online social life. I don’t think her family wanted anyone to know about Darcy. Maybe they knew something was wrong with her pretty early on.”
“It raises a whole other slew of questions, though.” He shakes his head. “Like, where is her sister? What’s the real reason her and her mom are here alone? Where did she get the power you saw in the dream and does she still have it? Why does her reflection do weird things? And let’s not forget, who is sending the dreams? Is it Darcy? Did Sibeal do something to her? Or is it the other way around?”
Finally, he runs out of breath and presses his palms to his forehead. “Arra, this doesn’t prove that Sibeal isn’t dangerous.”
“I know,” I say sadly. I want so much for Sibeal to be a victim and not the source of the problem. She still seems to be the one being punished. I need the whole story, but I fear confronting Sibeal about her sister will only drive her away from me.
I look up at Tanner helplessly. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand who I’m supposed to be helping.”
Tanner pulls me under his arm and sighs. “What did this Darcy chick do in your dream last night?” Tanner asks. “Let’s start there.”
“Do you remember the boy I told you about from the second dream?” I ask.
Tanner nods. “Sure, the one Good Sibeal was with in the meadow.”
“Well, I found a picture of him at Sibeal’s house yesterday. She said his name was Colin and that he wasn’t a part of her life anymore, but the way she teared up made it obvious that she cared about him deeply.” I have to pause and take in a shaky breath. Remembering the look on Darcy’s face gives me chills. “In the dream last night, Darcy pretended to be Sibeal and seduced Colin. Sibeal must have escaped from her room and followed Darcy, because she walked into the valley and found them together.”
“You mean, like together together?”
I nod and Tanner scrunches up his face. He tries to shake loose the image, but appears to be having trouble. I know the feeling.
“What did Sibeal do?” Tanner asks.
“Nothing. She was too heartbroken. All she could do was ask Darcy why.” I just want to cry as I remember the pain in Sibeal’s eyes. “Darcy said that now Sibeal knew what it was like to lose everything. I don’t know what she meant by that, but she was so happy about what she’d done. It was disturbing.”
I shiver again, selfishly thinking that I’m glad Darcy is nowhere near us right now. Tanner asked where she is, but I’m not sure we want to know.
As we approach the school, Tanner says, “We need to find out more about Darcy, but I don’t know how to do that without running Sibeal off. She’s not going to want to talk about her, especially if she did something to hurt Darcy. We still have no idea whether or not she has access to the power you saw her use to heal herself. If she does …”
“I know, I know.” My head flops against Tanner’s chest. “There’s no one else to talk to about it, though. Sibeal is our only choice.”
“What about her mom?”
I shake my head. “Tanner, Mrs. Ahearn has spent her entire adult life hiding Darcy and making sure no one even know she exists. She’s not going to tell all her dark secrets to some random girl. I think Sibeal is our best chance. She’s more emotionally involved in whatever happened. I think she’ll talk if she knows we’re trying to help her.”
Tanner certainly doesn’t look pleased with the idea, but he nods reluctantly. “Fine, but I don’t want you talking to her alone. Wait until we can ask her together, just in case.”
“I’ll try.”
It’s the best answer I can give, and even though Tanner frowns at me, I don’t want to lie and make promises I can’t keep. Sibeal is still very leery about Tanner. If she really is hiding something, I’m sure she thinks Tanners knows or at least senses what her secret is. She barely says a word around him. There’s no way I’ll get much out of her if Tanner is there staring her down. The best I can do is wait until we’re around others, but on our own enough that she’ll talk.
Tanner and I go our separate ways, neither one of us feeling great about what the day might bring. As I slip into my seat in history, I notice that Bas is already in his seat, but he doesn’t say a word to me. After my conversation with David, maybe that’s for the best. I try to focus on Mr. Harrington’s lecture. Guilt for the growing list of things I have neglected to tell Tanner makes that very difficult.
I told Tanner once that when I wake up from the dreams there is usually a sense of urgency. It convinced me early on that we didn’t have forever to figure this out. This morning, that feeling was ten times worse. Something tells me we are no longer dealing with weeks or months. Whatever threat is hovering around Sibeal, the deadline is days now. For her and me.
The bell ringing startles me into knocking my pens off my desk. They clatter to the ground and roll toward the wall. Before I can pick them up, Bas swoops in. He scoops them up and drops them on my desk without a word. The brushoff hurts more than I would have expected. I reach out and grab his arm on impulse. When Bas turns to look at me, the strained expression on his face makes my hand fall away.
“Are you okay?” I ask quietly.
Bas’s lips part, but he shakes his head and walks away.
The ache in my chest pushes me to go after him, but I know I should just let him be for now. Besides, Tanner is in our next class and I know walking in with Bas won’t help anything. My bag feels heavier than usual as I shoulder it and head for chemistry.
Our corner of the classroom is markedly subdued all through class. Bas and Tanner don’t speak. I just want to put my head down on my desk, and Sibeal is quiet as usual. My ability to focus is still fairly compromised, so much of Mr. Davis’ lecture about ionic bonds goes floating right over my head. Instead, I find myself doodling a picture of the valley from my dreams.
When the bell rings, the tension between Tanner and Bas propels them out of the classroom before anyone else. I sigh as I them watch them disappear, no dou
bt going separate ways instead of heading off to our usual lunch table. I know I have to do something about this, but I’m not sure what. Anything I think of has a bigger chance of making things worse than helping.
I pick up my notebook to shove it back in my bag, but Sibeal stops me. “What is that?” she asks, her hands trembling against the paper.
Knowing this might be my best chance, I hand the notebook over to her. Her eyes drink it in hungrily. The tears that begin to fill her eyes are not surprising after what I saw last night. She looks up at me in confusion.
“Where did you see this?”
I don’t answer right away. The right words seem elusive for a moment. “I’ve dreamt about this place,” I say in the end.
“What?” Sibeal asks, confused.
Knowing whether to be frank or subtle is a talent I really don’t possess. “Sibeal, I know about this place and what happened there. I know about Darcy.”
Full blown panic grips Sibeal. She drops back down into her seat and does nothing about the tears cascading down her cheeks. “How?”
“A friend told me that some people are given gifts from the gods they believe in. I have been given a gift,” I say. Sure, it was kind of an accident and definitely turned out to be its own kind of curse, but Sibeal doesn’t need to know that. “I know you and Darcy have gifts as well. I saw Darcy in a dream last night.”
No need to mention exactly how much of her sister I saw, or of Colin, for that matter. Sibeal doesn’t need to relive that memory any more than I do.
I wait for Sibeal to respond, but at this point she seems to be in total shut down mode. Not that I can blame her, really. She’s been keeping the secret of her sister her whole life. I just dumped a lot on her. I decide not to push her any further right now. I need a little more time to figure out how to approach this better, too. Stunning Sibeal into silence probably means I need to rethink my tactics. This whole dream thing was a lot simpler when I was the only one about to die.
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