Ch. 126: I Need to Know

CHAPTER 126:
Kyle~
“Are you ready?” Ally asks me.
Am I?
The last time I did a deep dive like this successfully we were a few steps away from the subject. And we nearly got caught. So, not really no. But I need to be.
“Let’s just do it,” I say forcefully.
For all I know it won’t even work.
“Okay, I’ll start and lead us into some meditative state, then Rach will push some magic into Kyle - slowly - and see if he can take the lead on the rate…” Ally says one more time, recapping what we decided.
“Alright let’s do this,” I say steadily. “Third time’s the charm.”
The other two attempts seemed to get stuck somewhere.
“Breathe in. One, two, three, four, five… And breathe out. One, two, three, four, five… Picture the ocean. Breathe in. One, two, three, four, five…And breathe out. One, two, three, four, five… We’re sinking further down, wrapped in a warm current. It gets darker and cozier as we go deeper down…” Ally leads.
I start to zone out. I’m vaguely aware of a few things. My hands on my knees. My spine and the way it is curved as I sit here. My breath, expanding and contracting my chest. My heart rate. My pulse in my wrists. I acknowledge these things as they come up in my mind, and let them go. Drifting further and further into nothing.
Something soft, like a very faint vibration comes from my right hand. I acknowledge it and try to leave it behind. I feel nothing again. For a moment. I feel the vibration again. Without letting go of my state, I remember I need to push and search for something.
Being sure to hold on to the vibrating thing, I feel along the edges of the wall in this area until I feel something give. A door or something like it. Like a cat door flap. It gives with the littlest of effort. I push through.
I move along and end up in a dark space. I can’t make much out, but it’s easier to think here. And with the vibration getting stronger it’s getting easier to focus.
It’s something about a blond girl. Max. Maxine. The name coming to mind unlocks something. I end up in a place similar to where I start when I am actively dreaming and looking for others I know. Doors and trees rush past. I swipe along like I’m scrolling on a tablet, left, left, left, left. I keep going until - that’s it.
I recognize her. A little blond girl in the distance. The child Maxine.
The last time I was here she recognized me and chased me out. Why hadn’t I thought about a game plan for this time around?
Would she remember me? Or would she just catch on as quickly as she did the last time?
I hesitate, bouncing on the heels of my feet until I feel a squeeze in my left hand. Ally. She’s encouraging me to push forward. And I need to. This is further than we’ve gotten with anything today.
So I choose to be cautious and try to skirt around her. Child Maxine is by a pool of water in an open field, so I walk quietly and slowly through the outer trees. Her head snaps in my direction once and I freeze.
She stays still, watching, but after some time with no movement, she goes back to whatever she was looking at before. So I keep moving again, keeping a close eye on her, and trying not to remember what she looked like when she was chasing me out of her mind before.
It transitions suddenly from a forest to a small town road. Cobblestones and store fronts. There are a few people milling about but they’re almost transparent. They’re people in a dream. I see Maxine pop out of a house and I duck into a stairway, watching her closely to make sure she’s moving way ahead of me. I can’t risk her recognizing me and getting startled. Or waking up.
It is odd though. That she’s asleep at this time of day. We hadn’t considered that. I watch her round a corner and I carefully step out after looking in all directions for anything off. Thankfully there’s nothing. So I keep going. I look around for something a little odd and I spot a modern storefront. It’s definitely out of place. I step through and continue like the last time. The rest becomes familiar as I make my way to her subconscious again. And so far, no weird sightings of any creepy blond figures.

Ally~
It was nearly half an hour later when we all blinked and rejoined the real world, a few minutes before the bell rang. We had to rush off to class before we had any time to really digest what had happened in Maxine’s subconscious.
But I couldn’t get it out of my thoughts. So I spent the entire last period of the day trying to forget. Knowing about Maxine’s abusive childhood meant feeling some sympathy for her, and after everything… I didn’t want to feel that way.
I didn’t want to humanize her after finding out she was on the other side. After I knew she was part of something trying to hurt my friends, my mate. After I met her on the battlefield, she made the first attack. But the flames from that moment reminded me of the scars on Maxine’s collarbone and ribs, that were put there on purpose. Made by fire, and pushed into her skin when she wasn’t displaying as much power as her sister. I shuddered as I imagined it.
Pictures like that roamed through my brain while class ended and I made my way outside. I saw Marsha walking up ahead and I held in the urge to call out to her, tell her about everything we’d learned. While I felt empathy for little kid Maxine, I felt bad for current Marsha.
Kyle had spent a few nights monitoring her dreams and Evan had had her place watched. But there was no sign that she was having any contact with Max. And from the way she had been moving around like a slinky ghost, I think she was honestly lost about all this.
I made my way out and was disappointed not to see Nick here in one of the pack cars. It has been our thing now for some time, but he wasn’t out here. I checked my phone again but confirmed that he hadn’t sent me any messages since this morning when he’d sent a single heart right around 8am.
Something felt odd but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I saw Rachel and Kyle head my way and they looked at me confused.
“They running late?” Kyle asked me.
“I don’t know…” I wondered aloud. “Rach - have you heard from Jake today?”
“Uh, yeah, earlier. One sec-” she says while fishing her phone out of her bag. “Yeah, something from a minute ago… Yeah, he said he’s running late but will be here soon.”
My instincts thought something about that didn’t sit quite right - like why did he not right that ‘they’ would be here soon? But maybe it’s just the way he wrote it.
We went to sit down on the lawn for a bit to wait, and Kyle came with us since he had to wait for the bus anyway.
Rachel and Kyle started talking about something, but I couldn’t focus on it. I felt like my head was underwater. My ears only capture distant mumbling. I played with a piece of grass and focused on it, rolling it around between my thumb and index finger. I rolled it back and forth, back and forth, and this feeling like my stomach was falling grew bigger and bigger.
“Something’s wrong,” I say aloud in a whisper.
“Wait, what?” Kyle asks me to repeat.
“Something isn’t right. I don’t know what it is, but something is wrong… I don’t like this,” I say elaborating.
I look up to find Kyle looking at me with serious worry. “Do you think it’s another attack?”
I bite my lip and think for a second. “No. I don’t think so, but it’s not good… I think it’s about Nick, it’s got to be. He hasn’t said anything to me since this morning.”
Rachel grabs my hand. “I’m sure he’s okay. He’s probably wrapped up in some lead about The Collective. Remember how obsessive he is with his research?”
That’s when Kyle stands up and I notice Jake gets closer in his car. He looks serious and the rest of my stomach drops.
I’m running over to the curb before I can help it, and I throw the passenger door open.
“What’s happened?” I ask frantically.
“I don’t know, but something’s…” his wolf flashes in his eyes.
“Off.” I finish for him and he nods. “It’s got to be Nick. Where is he?”
Rachel and Kyle pile in the car.
“I haven’t heard from him since this morning,” I said quickly.
That makes him squint his eyes. His eyes go blank and I secure my bag and buckle my seatbelt. Whatever he is saying to whomever, is taking a while, and the concern in his face is adding to my worry.
Finally he rejoins the present.
“We need to go,” he says, slamming a foot on the gas.
We’re all thrown backwards by the sudden movement and before I know it we’re flying down the highway.
“I’m going to kill him,” he grumbles.
“What is it?” I ask him.
We’re thrown to the left as he turns right on a large curve in the highway. There’s some flames appearing on his head and arms. I see Rachel reach over and grasp his forearm, the fire dying down to almost nothing.
My heartbeat is increasing rapidly and panic is rising further. My knuckles turn white from the force I’m using to grip onto the loops of my backpack. I look at him again but he’s firmly not saying anything.
“Dam*it Jake! Answer me!” I see his eyes flash. “He’s my mate! I need to know!”
After a breath he replies, “Nick is in some serious danger.”