Hunting Shadows (Shadows 3)

“Does she have any family nearby?”

“No, all her family is in Florida,” Marcus answered. “I’m her boyfriend.”

“We’re her family here,” Sarah said, her voice thickening with fear. “Is she okay?”

The doctor studied us for a few moments and then finally spoke. “I’m Dr. Phelps. We tried to revive her but she was without oxygen for too long. She passed before she got to the hospital. We weren’t able to resuscitate her.”

I stared at the doctor while he continued to speak, barely hearing his explanation of what had happened. I heard wails surround me but I couldn’t process the grief of those around me. All I could think about was that I had failed. I had failed Jenny and because of me she was dead.

“What happened?” Marcus demanded once the doctor walked away, his voice trembling. His voice suddenly grew louder until he was shouting. “What the fuck happened?”

He was looking straight at me and I forced myself to spill out the lies I had agreed upon.

“I–I had a dream,” I started shakily, trying not to let the anguish I saw in Marcus’ eyes break me. “I dreamt that Jenny was in trouble in the student pool. It seemed so real that when I woke up I called her to make sure she was okay. When she didn’t answer her phone, I got even more worried. I thought I was being irrational but I couldn’t shake the feeling so I decided to go to the pool to check. Simon and Ryan went with me, even though they thought I was being crazy.” I took a deep breath, apologizing to Jenny in my mind. I’m so sorry, Jenny, I pleaded. I’m sorry I didn’t save you and I’m sorry for lying about how you died.

“Then what?” Marcus rasped, his face ashen.

“It was already too late by the time we got there,” Simon answered for me. “She was in the pool and not moving.”

Marcus shook his head in despair and confusion. “I don’t understand! What the hell would she be doing in the pool in the middle of the night? It’s not even open then!” He gripped his hands in his hair like he was trying to keep a grip on his sanity. “And she’s a strong swimmer. How could she drown?”

He sank into a chair in the waiting room, his body wracked with sobs. Sarah had already collapsed into a seat when the doctor had told us the news and Grant was standing over her, trying to calm her from her violent crying.

She looked up at me and I saw the distrust and doubt on her face. Nothing was said but both Sarah and Grant looked at us with accusing eyes, condemning me along with Ryan and Simon. But they were wrong. It was solely my fault; my responsibility. I had failed in destroying Jenny’s vardoger with my first attempt and that had cost Jenny her life. All the past successes, all the strength I had gained from destroying all the other shadows seemed meaningless when I couldn’t even save the ones I cared about.

We were silent, although Sarah and Marcus continued to cry. I wished I could cry, to find some release, but the guilt wouldn’t let me.

I jumped, startled, when I heard a voice behind me.

“Caitlin Kile?”

I turned around to see a uniformed police officer behind me. Two other police officers were standing behind him and my heart started thudding against my ribcage.

“Yes, that’s me,” I said, but the words were barely audible. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’m Caitlin Kile.”

“I’m Officer Merren. You were the one that found Jenny McAllister?”

I nodded, watching him warily. Simon spoke up before the officer could ask another question.

“I was there too.”

“So was I,” Ryan said.

“Can I get your names?” Officer Merren scribbled in his notepad when they obliged, but then he honed in on me again. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“She just found out her friend died,” Simon said, his voice cold. “Do we have to do this now?”

Officer Merren’s expression turned slightly sympathetic but his voice was still all-business. “I’m sorry for your loss. We’ll just quickly go over what happened, but I’ll need you to come down to the station in the morning to go over details.” He looked at Simon and Ryan. “You two as well.”

I quickly told him what happened, ignoring how his eyebrows rose when I told him about the premonition. He was silent until I was done telling my story.

“And these premonitions—do you have them often?”

I shook my head. “No, this was the first one. But it seemed so real that I felt like I had to make sure it wasn’t true. I have no idea how I was able to see in my dream what happened to Jenny.”

This all felt so familiar. I remembered lying to the police about Claudia’s death, not being able to tell them that she had been overtaken by her vardoger and Simon had killed her to save me. Once again I was fabricating a story. I was starting to feel like my whole life was a fabrication.

I was relieved when Officer Merren seemed satisfied with my answers, although he once again reminded me that I needed to come to the police station in the morning. The officer had pulled us away to a corner of the waiting room and we walked back over to Marcus, Sarah and Grant when we were done. Marcus was just hanging up his cell phone when we approached.