“Why? Why did you do this?” Tracy asked, stepping forward. She made sure to stand directly in front of him so he would have to look at her.
“I don't have to talk to you,” John hissed, refusing to meet her gaze.
Something inside of Tracy snapped. The pain and confusion she'd felt these past few weeks. The b
etrayal from Gordon. The sleeplessness. The fact that she was shot. It was all his fault. She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her.
“Why?” Tracy repeated, tightening her grip on his chin to the point of pain. “I want to know why.”
“My daughter.”
“What about her?” Tracy squeezed harder, waiting for him to make eye contact with her.
Pale blue eyes met Tracy's. Searing white hot light flowed through her brain like lightning, shocking every neuron and synapse it touched.
The whirling, twisting colors of blue and red over white surrounded Tracy. She knew she wasn't dreaming, that both of them were still awake, but the connection was so strong she was able to transcend and enter his thoughts without being asleep.
John's mind howled with the invasion. It beat at her with icy winds and blistering heat, but she didn't relent. There was no retreat from this.
The form of Jenna filled her mind.
Only it wasn't the Jenna Tracy knew.
A scared little girl, no more than six years old, peered up at her. She wore a simple white dress with a dark blue bow in brown hair. Freckles dotted her cheeks and innocent eyes stared out at her.
“Why did you let her do that to me, Daddy?” the little girl asked. “Why would you let this happen?”
“I'm so sorry, baby,” John's voice whispered. “I promised to protect you.”
“She is going to take him away from me. You promised me that Paul and I would live happily ever after. You promised,” the little girl pouted.
Tracy knew that it wasn't really Jenna saying these things. It was what her father wanted. Her father had wanted his little girl to end up with the man he had mentored. The real Jenna may have desired Mr. Hayes, but she was also willing to kill. The little girl standing before her was an innocent child.
“Why would you let this happen, Daddy?” the little girl cried. Bruises formed under her eyes and her skin grew pale. “You have to save me, Daddy.”
“Of course, baby,” John whispered. The wind stopped howling in Tracy's mind and the dream became deathly silent. “What do you need me to do?”
“Kill them,” the girl whispered. It made Tracy's stomach sick to hear such an evil thing come out of such an innocent looking child. “Make them pay.”
“Of course, baby,” John whispered again.
The whirling, twisting colors of blue and red began to swirl around the child's feet as she began to laugh. John started to laugh as well and the howling wind overtook them all.
“Tracy! Tracy!” Mr. Hayes shouted frantically, bringing her back to reality.
She didn't know what had happened, but she was on the ground. John Tice was out cold beside her, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head. She stared at him until she was sure she saw him take a breath.
“What happened?” she stammered, putting a hand to her head. She expected it to hurt, but for the first time in weeks, it actually felt clear.
“You were asking him why and then you both just fell to the ground,” Mr. Hayes replied. He had his arms around her, her head propped up on his shoulder. “You scared us all.”
“I'm okay,” she said, actually meaning it this time. “I really am. I know why he did it.”
“He told you?” Mr. Hayes asked, holding her tighter.
“For Jenna. He did it for her. Or rather, what he thinks of as Jenna,” Tracy amended. “He thought that destroying the two of us would bring back the little girl he loves.”
“Jenna's not a little girl anymore,” Mr. Hayes said softly.