Hunting Shadows (Shadows 3)

My answer seemed to mollify him and I was relieved when he didn’t push the discussion. I feel asleep with the safety of his arms around me, hoping that this part of my life would never change.

Chapter Seventeen

I bolted into a sitting position on my bed, the scream fading from my lips. Simon was awake in an instant.

“What is it? Another vision?”

I shook my head as I felt my body start to tremble. I scrabbled for my cell phone on the bedside table at the same moment the door to my bedroom burst open. Ryan rushed into my room looking alarmed.

“What happened?” His eyes narrowed on Simon. “What did you do?”

Before they could get into an argument, I shut them up. “Stop! I don’t have time for this shit right now!” I hit a button on my phone and put it up to my ear, praying that she would answer. Fear seeped through every pore of my body when it eventually went to voicemail.

“It’s Caitlin,” I said, my voice trembling. “Please call me as soon as you get this. I’m sorry for calling you in the middle of the night, but I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

I disconnected the call and then tried another number, my heart sinking when it went straight to voicemail.

“What’s happening?” Simon asked, gently but urgently.

“I don’t know how it happened,” I said, horror making me tremble. “But the girl in my dream changed. It was Jenny! I swear it wasn’t her before!”

Simon said an expletive under his breath but his expression remained calm. “You just tried to call her, right?”

“Yes, but she didn’t answer. I tried Marcus too, but his phone went straight to voicemail.”

I jumped out of bed and started changing quickly, not even noticing that I was stripping in front of Ryan. All I could think about was finding Jenny as soon as possible. And I had a horrible feeling that I would find her at the pool.

Ryan and Simon seemed to be of the same mind. Simon quickly threw on some clothes and Ryan had done the same when we walked out into the living room.

“Should we check downstairs first?” Simon asked. “Maybe she’s with Marcus.”

“No!” I said, feeling frantic. I knew she was at the pool. Every fiber of my being was telling me I needed to get there before it was too late. “She’s not there. She’s at the pool. I can just feel it.”

Simon and Ryan didn’t argue with me and we ran the whole way to the student gym. I took no notice of how my heaving lungs were in pain from the cold air. All I could think about was Jenny. Her bright personality and infectious laughter. Please, I begged in my mind, please don’t let me be too late.

My fear grew when I saw that the glass on the door to the indoor pool had been smashed as if someone had thrown something through it, making it possible to reach inside and unlock it. My suspicions were confirmed when the door opened easily.

Jenny’s name was pounding in my mind like a mantra as I ran inside. My heart almost exploded from fear and adrenaline when I saw the scene before me. Just as I had seen in my vision, Jenny was struggling as the vardoger held her mercilessly underwater, waiting for her soul to expire and leave her body.

I immediately started gathering my energy, feeling the familiar thrum as it funneled together. Both Simon and Ryan ran to Jenny but the moment they touched her they were blasted back as if they had touched a live wire and had been electrocuted. I was shocked and confused by what happened to them, but I kept my concentration on my powers, my anger and fear making them even more potent.

I shot out my gathered energy towards the vardoger with so much force that I was thrown back onto the floor. I felt relief course through me when the vardoger began to dissipate, but it was short-lived when the vardoger started to become solid again.

“What the fuck…” I trailed off as I saw the vardoger turn and rush towards me. I had no idea how it was able to survive the energy I had crashed into it, but I immediately started gathering my powers again. Panic clawed at me but I forced myself to push my fear out. I had to concentrate on destroying the vardoger. I had to save Jenny’s life.

I felt the vardoger trying to push into me but I ignored it. Pain was radiating throughout my body, setting every nerve-ending on fire, but nothing mattered except my energy growing into an orb of fury and rage.

I shot it out towards the vardoger with all the force I had inside me. I wanted to sob with relief when it finally exploded and dissipated as if it had never existed.

The relief disappeared when I saw Ryan leaning over Jenny, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I scrambled up from the floor and ran over, dropping to my knees in front of her. Each second seemed like an eternity as I waited for Jenny to cough, to sputter and spit the water out of her lungs, but she remained deathly silent.

“What’s happening?” I screamed, feeling myself start to shake. “I destroyed her vardoger! She should be okay!”

Simon gathered me in his arms as we watched Ryan trying to save Jenny’s life. “She was in the water too long. She must have been on the edge of her soul leaving her body when her vardoger switched its attention to you.”

“We have to call 9-1-1,” I said shakily, scrambling for the phone in my pocket. “She needs an ambulance. She’ll be okay once she gets to the hospital.”

Simon looked grim. “We already called. An ambulance is on its way.” He looked down at Ryan who continued to work on Jenny. His voice was gentle when he spoke again. “It’s not looking good.”