Dreamt Of You - All

The entire thing, because I'm too lazy to post chapters. Sorry. <3

There was a gentle breeze moving the trees outside Thomas Hayden's window. There was no way that he was going to be able to fall asleep tonight. Of course, it would probably be easier to sleep if his best friend, Alexander Addams, didn't snore so loudly and that the thunderstorm outside would just stop being so loud.  Of course, wishing it away wouldn’t do much good.  With a long sigh, Tom rolled over and started to hum a lullaby. 

Abruptly he stopped humming and sighed again.  Deep in his stomach, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to clear his mind.  He moved his head to face Alex, who was now snorting into the arm of the three seated couch in Tom’s room.  Alex had an oval face, tan skin, and flipped-up dark brown hair that matched his chocolate eyes.  His skin was covered in freckles, and he had dimples when he smiled.  Tom’s eyes wandered over to his desk space, where he had his brand new PC and laptop waiting for him to set them up, his large, and fairly expensive, stereo beside it, already set up and ready to drown out all his thoughts when he needed it most.  An empty tack board was hung beside his desk, and over in front of the couch on his coffee table there was a box of picture-less picture frames, that needed to be filled with his family’s photos.  He looked over to his twenty-five inch LCD television that still hasn’t been set up, then to the box containing his DVD player and VCR, and then he gazed sleepily at the Play-Station box on the floor in front of the television.  He remembered playing games with Alex when they were younger.

Alex and Tom have been friends for years.  When they were younger, they lived in the same city, went to the same school, and hung out at the same arcades.  They did almost everything together, and then Alex moved away.  Tom wasn’t very happy about it and the two fought during the last two weeks they had together.  Both of them regretted that for the next four years.  Now, as if by fate that they were supposed to be friends, Tom moved to the same town that Alex did, Brandon, Manitoba, four years and three months after they boys last saw each other.  And here they are, a week later sleeping over at Tom’s new home, next door to Alex.

Tom then glanced towards the upright mirror, his reflection almost clear in the darkness.  He had short, slightly curly dirty blonde hair, pale green eyes and uneven facial features.  They were not that off, but if you looked hard enough, you can tell that one side of Tom’s lip was slightly more elevated than the other.  Or it could be just because he is always smirking, it just stayed that way.  Whatever the reason, he noticed it every time he looked in the mirror.

Suddenly Alex snorted loudly and groaned, sitting up slightly.  Tom raised his eyebrows and whispered, “Hey, had a bad dream?”  He pushed himself up to rest on his elbows, staring across the room at his best friend.

Alex inhaled sharply, then exhaled slowly, “Jesus, man, you scared me,” he took another deep breath.  “Yep, I had this horrible dream that my parents and some little kid were killed after being found lying by the side of the road, a car accident or something.  The man took out a bat from the back of his pick-up truck and started beating my parents to death, then grabbed a piece of wreckage from the crash and mutilated the boy.”  Alex closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, “It was really disturbing...  Because, when the man got back into his car and looked in the mirror, it was me.” 

They were both silent for several minutes, but Tom finally said, “Dude, that’s... Sick.  But it was just a dream, right?”

Alex sighed and nodded, “Yeah, a nightmare...  Hey, I’m going to go raid your fridge for a pop, and I’m going to grab you one while I’m there, why don’t you hook up that new TV of yours and we can watch a movie or something, I know you have about a billion of them in one of these boxes.”  He smirked, gesturing around at some of the boxes by the couch.  Alex then stood up and left the room.

Tom sighed and got out of bed.  A flash of lightning illuminated the room, causing harsh shadows to dance across the far wall where his closet was, and he could swear he heard a car’s tires screech before the thunder drowned everything out.  Tom felt a shiver go down his spine.

 

A flash of lightning lit up the room where Harlow Black was lying on her back in a sleeping bag.  Her friend, Sara Campbell, merely rolled over and snored on after the loud crack of thunder shook her friend’s house.  Harlow was never scared over thunderstorms before this night, but this specific scenario put her on edge.

Everything around her was dark and spooky, and nothing looked friendly.  Everything smelled strange, and didn’t feel like home.  She longed for the comfort of her own home and the embrace from her parents.

She thinks that’s what was bothering her so much; she hadn’t talked to her parents in two days, since she came to stay with Sara.  She forgot to call them earlier to tell them she was fine and ask them how they were.  Harlow hasn’t said “I love you” in over 48 hours.  They were planning to get back home sometime the next day.  Her little brother had to go in for cancer treatment again, and Harlow absolutely hates hospitals, especially Children’s hospitals.  Of course, the closest Children’s Hospital to Brandon, where Harlow lived, was over two hours away, and, it takes more than a day for the treatment to be finished.

Harlow rolled over in her sleeping bag so she can lie on her side, staring at the pictures on her friend’s door of pop idols.  But, what was to be expected of her good friend?  At least she wasn’t a s**t, but she did have crushes on some pretty terrible boys at their high-school.  Harlow thought Sara was completely crazy for crushing on those d****e-bags, but there was nothing she could do to convince her friend that they were sleazy b******s, at least not until one of them hurt her, at least.  But she didn’t want Sara to have to go through that.

She and Sara were so opposite in public; no one really expected them to become best of friends.  In public, Harlow left her hair loose, and the only styling she did was run a brush through it.  Her dark hair, however, looked fine on its own with its natural curl.  Sara, on the other hand either had her hair up in a fancy bun, or straightened, or even in slight curls around her face.  Sara had dirty blonde hair with strawberry blonde streaks, and Harlow had never dyed her hair before.  Harlow wore mostly dark, shapeless clothes, or something people at her school would classify as “emo”.  Sara, however, took a liking to short skirts, shorts and generally shape defining clothing.

Harlow sighed and un-zipped her sleeping bag as another flash of lightning irradiated the room.  Slowly she headed towards the door and quietly opened it, to avoid waking up her friend.   On her tippy toes, she crept across the house to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk.  Harlow leaned against the counter, staring into her glass of milk.  She was thinking about home, and how she missed the smell of her house, those lemon cleaners her mother always sprays to keep the house smelling decent, despite the completely messy state the house was always in.

"You can't sleep either?"  A quiet, high-pitched voice called out from the doorway.  If Harlow didn't know the family, she would probably be terrified.  Sara's angelic little sister was standing in the darkness, rubbing her eyes and clutching her teddy bear.  Harlow instantly figured that Jenna, Sara's little sister, was woken up by the storm.  The lightning flashed again, causing Jenna to wince then run forwards and hug Harlow's leg.  Softly, she set her glass down and sank to the floor to hug Jenna, so that she wouldn't be too scared.

Jenna was an adorable little girl, if anything.  She was a genius, for a nine year old, possibly even smarter than Harlow herself, but Harlow still saw little Jenna as a little girl.  Jenna had natural blonde hair that she always had cut around her face, to bring out her lovely blue eyes.  Her face was nearly symmetrical, and it made her look even more like an angel.

"Yes, the storm woke me up too."  Harlow whispered, smiling at Jenna.  She had never been too good with children, but for some reason or another they always seemed to adore her and follow her around, looking up to her like some sort of idol.  Of course, Harlow thought they were a little off by thinking this.  She didn't think of herself to be anything other than a struggling high-school student with average grades and no extracurricular activities.  She wasn't exactly popular, or even friendly.  She didn't have money, and she wasn't very talented.

"Harlow, can I ask you something?"  Jenna looked so serious, Harlow just nodded her head and smiled again, "Have you ever dreamed something that wasn't real, but was so real that you think it happened?"

"Uh..."  Harlow was frankly shocked by this proposition; she hadn't expected Jenna to be able to think that deeply.  "Yeah, that happens all the time, that's why it's a dream.  Do you want to talk about it?"  Harlow was interested in what Jenna had a dream about to make her ask this question.

"Well, I had this dream, and it was about my mummy, my daddy and my older brother."  Harlow had nearly forgotten about Daniel, who was the same age as her own brother.  He had been spending the last few days sleeping over at his friend's houses, since it was Halloween weekend, and the boys wanted to go out and gather as much candy as they could carry, then stay up all night watching scary movies and eating until they puked.  Jenna looked scared to continue, as she was looking away at her teddy bear frowning.

"Continue, Jenna, I want to know."  Harlow paused to think about what she just said, and added, "If you want to."

She nodded before saying, "Well, I was in the church, sitting there with Nana, Papa and Sara.  Everyone was really sad, they were crying and I didn't know why.  I kept asking and everyone just told me to sit down and be quiet, before they started to cry again.  Then, after some more crying, and I was still really confused, they all got up to go around these wooden boxes."  Jenna stopped again to look at her teddy bear.  Harlow knew what she was describing; she had been to a funeral a little while ago, her grandfather's.  Jenna looked into Harlow's eyes and continued, “Well, when I looked inside the boxes I saw my mummy, my daddy and Daniel all sleeping!  I tried to wake them up, but they wouldn't!  Then my Nana got mad at me, and pulled me away and told my parents died in an accident.  I then looked over and saw you standing there!  You were in black, and you looked so serious.  I wanted to ask why you weren't smiling, but when I ran up to you, you just walked away."

“D-do you have these kinds of dreams often, Jenna?”  Harlow’s voice was soft, yet pursuing.

“No!  This is the first one, and it’s really scary!  You don’t hate me, right Harlow?”  Jenna’s innocent eyes were round in fear, tears threatening to enter them.

Harlow stared at Jenna, then smiled softly, “Don’t worry about anything, hun.  Why don’t you go back to bed, Mr. Teddy looks really tired.”

“Okay.  Good night, Harlow.”  Jenna smiled; her light blue angelic eyes cleared of any sorrow, and headed off towards her room.  She was an adorable girl, but sometimes she could really scare Harlow.

Staring out the window, Harlow picked up the glass and drank another mouthful of milk.  Her head was swimming with what Jenna had said.  Another flash of lightning cleared Harlow’s mind, then the screech of tires was obscured by the rumbling rolls of thunder.

***

“Hey, Harlow... WAKE UP!”  Harlow abruptly woke to Sara’s angry yell; she was always grouchy in the morning, so this wasn’t new to her.

“What?”  Harlow didn’t know why Sara woke her up; it was only 10:00am.

Sara sighed and placed her hands on her hips, she was still in her PJs, “Our trip to the bowling alley is cancelled...  A van rolled on highway 10, apparently, and my mom doesn’t want to go anywhere near there.” Sara sighed and sat on her bed, “It’s really lame!  It’s not like we’re going there to check out the crash or anything, we just want to go bowling.”

“God, Sara, you complain too much,” I commented, unzipping my sleeping bag.  “Hey, have you eaten yet?”  Harlow’s stomach was growling.

“No, which is part of why I woke you up; let’s go get a bite to eat, okay?”  Sara laughed slightly then put her grouchy face on and slouched out of the room.  Usually, she was very proper with posture, speech and looks when she was out in public, the opposite of Harlow who wears sweats to a wedding.  Sara once told Harlow it was because, in life, you need to keep up an appearance to go far.  Harlow, like usual, thought she was nuts.

The two finally got upstairs when the phone started to ring.  Lazily, Sara leaned on the wall and plucked the phone off the receiver, “Hello?”  She paused then looked up at Harlow, “It’s for you.”

Harlow felt something pang in her chest, and honestly, she didn’t know why.  She took the phone from Sara and held it up to her ear, taking a deep breath, “Hello?”

“Oh, hi there, Harlow!  How are you doing?  Anyways, this is your neighbour, Cynthia!  I’m calling to tell you that you need to come home straight away, there’s an officer here that wants to speak with you.”

“U-uh, okay, I’ll be right there.”  Something wasn’t right and Harlow knew it.  On the other end, Cynthia hung up the phone and Harlow did the same, she was shaking slightly and looked up at Sara, “Um, I have to go home, there’s a cop at my doorstep.”

“God, that sounds serious.  I’ll drive you there, okay?”  Sara walked around Harlow, heading for the door.  Suddenly, Jenna appeared in the doorframe.

“Is everything okay, Harlow?  You look upset!”  Jenna’s shrilly voice rung in Harlow’s ears, instantly she smiled softly.

“Everything is just fun, Jenna, I just have to go home now, but I promise I’ll be back again soon, okay?”  Her voice was bouncy and almost too happy; Harlow couldn’t believe it was her own lips moving.  She smiled and hugged Jenna before turning out the door and heading to Sara’s car.

Tom was deeply troubled, and exhausted.  For some reason, Alex was bouncing around the sidewalk, on their way back to his house.  Tom’s mother told him that he and Alex were either going to help her unpack, or get out of the way, so they decided that taking a walk was a lot more fun than unpacking the Hayden’s possessions.

Alex stopped abruptly, causing Tom to walk into him.  “What the hell, man!”  Tom snapped.

“Um, there’s a cop outside the Black’s home.  I wonder what’s up...”  Alex said, staring contently at his neighbours across the street.

“Are they criminals or something?”  Tom asked, he was curious now, as he always seemed to be when it came to cops.

Alex glanced at him and shook his head, turning back to the brown bungalow, “No, never, not at all.  They’re really nice people; I don’t know why the cops are there...  I know the parents and the little boy are always going to Winnipeg on the weekends, apparently the poor kid has some sort of cancer or something that needs constant treatment.”  He paused to take a long breath and continued, “I’ve seen the older girl around at school, I think her name is Harlow or something like that, something different.  She’s really nice too, from what I can tell, and she always hangs around with that snooty friend of hers, Sara Campbell.  I honestly don’t know why, they’re opposites.”  Alex sighed again and sat on the curb, watching the neighbour’s, Tom knew he wouldn’t say anymore.

“That’s...  Interesting, it sounds like you have some nice neighbours.”  Tom commented, sitting down beside his best friend.

The door slammed behind the boys and the clacking of heels sounded on the sidewalk leading to Alex’s home, “Boys, do either of you know what’s going on?  In any case, I think it’d be rude to invade the Black’s privacy, do come inside.”  It was Alex’s mother.

“Hi, Mrs. Addams, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”  Tom beamed; it would be a good idea to become friends with Alex’s parents again, so that they wouldn’t be told off for hanging out so much.

“Oh, please, the pleasure is all mine, Tom!  And please, call me Cynthia!”  She chirped, and gestured for the boys to come inside, “So, do you guys want something to eat?  How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”

“Aw, mom, please!”  Alex groaned, following his mother into their home.  Just as Tom was closing the door, a car pulled on to the street, Sara Campbell’s silver Grand AM.

Harlow had chills going up and down her spine the entire car ride to her home in the South-West district of the city, just north of Richmond Avenue.  The only time she had been this nervous was when she was waiting on the results to her brother’s tests, and those all ended badly.  When they turned the corner down her street, she saw the cop car and it sent panic straight to her heart, she felt like puking.  Something in her mind was telling her, no screaming at her, that something wasn’t right and that she doesn’t want to hear about it.

“Hey, Harlow, are you all right?  I could stay if you want, call me if you need anything, okay?  You know I’d drop everything and run to your side, right?  But, I don’t want to interfere with whatever is happening, so I’ll go home after I drop you off.”  Sara pulled behind the cruiser and looked at Harlow, “Are you all right?  You look really pale.  I’m sure it’s nothing, go on.”  Sara was pretty terrible at keeping Harlow from panicking.

“All right, I’m fine; I’ll call you soon, okay?”  Harlow smiled wearily at her friend before pulling the handle and stepping out of the car.  When she stepped out onto her street, the first thing she smelled was the wet earth, it entangled with her senses and reminded her of when she was younger and used to play in the puddles with her dad.  She heard the trickle of water down the street and into the drains, a sound she heard all too often after it rained on this street.  She smiled to herself from the familiar smell and sounds of home, she even felt a little better, but that was soon choked out by the sound of the police car’s radio just a few feet in front of her.

Harlow took several deep breaths then walked towards her home, a police officer leaving his cruiser to greet her on the steps in front of her home.  He was wearing Brandon’s city police uniform, and he looked very official.

“Hello, I am Officer Redbird.  Are you Ms. Black?”  The officer asked.  The man’s voice was deep, and scratchy, as if he had a sore throat.  He was a rather skinny man, but she assumed he was pretty strong; after all he was a police officer.  He had a broad forehead and high cheek bones, his hair was slicked back, and it was dark brown, he had 5 o’clock shadow and his skin was tanned with a red tinge.

“Yes, I’m Harlow Black.  Can I ask why you’re here... sir?”  Harlow’s stomach was twisting and turning, and the man’s presence didn’t help at all, she had never been too comfortable around authority.

“Can we go inside and sit down?”  He paused, looking slightly uncomfortable, “I have... something to tell you.”  He said solemnly, gesturing for her to go inside.  Harlow had forgotten her key at Sara’s house, so she used the one hidden under the rock in the small garden in front of her home.  When Harlow and the officer headed inside, Officer Redbird took off his hat and held it in front of him.  They made their way through the clutter to sit down.  Officer Redbird took the armchair, whereas Harlow sat on the couch.

“S-so... What... What is it that you wanted to tell me?  What happened?”  Harlow felt her heart pick up, beating quickly in her chest, she figured that the loudness of it would wake the neighbours, so she tried taking slow and steady breaths to calm herself.

“Early this morning, there was an accident that involved your parents and brother.”  He looked regretful, like he didn’t want to be the one sitting there in Harlow’s home, telling her this.  Her whole body went numb at this news, her mouth moving noiselessly.  “I’m sorry to say, that there were no survivors.”  Officer Redbird’s eyes were downcast, “I am terribly sorry for your loss, Ms. Black.”  He looked like it too.

The shock was too much for Harlow’s brain.  Her parents and little brother were in a car accident, they rolled.  The realization shook Harlow’s being, her family was dead!  She felt her own heart stop in her chest when the words sunk in, it was all too much for her to bear, and she felt dizzy.  Harlow whimpered slightly and fell backwards onto the couch, fainting.

“So, what do you think is going on at the neighbours’?”  Tom asked Alex, who was sitting at the window sill and staring across the street.  He had been acting weird ever since they got in, and Tom couldn’t figure out why.

Alex sighed and tore his eyes away from the window to look at his best friend, “I don’t know, but I was thinking... Does this have anything to do with last night?  Do you remember that dream I told you about when I woke up in the middle of the night?”  Alex looked so serious, it scared Tom slightly.  Just twenty minutes ago, he was running around outside Tom’s home, waiting for him to say good-bye to his mother.

“Um, yeah, I do.  What about it?”  Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.  He recalled that strange dream Alex had told him about.  Apparently, Alex’s two parents were in a car crash, with some little boy, and then they were brutally attacked after being found at the side of the room.

“Well, what if that accident that went on this morning, my dream, and the fact that the cops are now at my neighbour’s house is all connected?”  Alex stood up and approached Tom, “What if I foresaw that accident, and could have stopped it!”  Alex now took a hold on Tom’s shoulders and shook him lightly.  Tom thought his best friend had gone mentally insane, and let out a sharp gasp when his grasp tightened.

“Hold on, hold on!  Don’t try and blame anything on yourself!  I’m sure it is just a coincidence.  Sit down, and take a deep breath.”  Tom wasn’t good at consoling people, but he hoped to God that this worked, his shoulders were starting to ache from his best friend’s iron like grip.

“Yeah, yeah...”  Alex slowly let go of Tom and began to pace the room back and forth, “Yeah.  Maybe it was just a coincidence.  I do have an active imagination, you know?  You do too.  We all do, yeah.”  Alex ran a hand through his hair.  Tom could have sworn he looked shaken, like someone close to him had just died.

“Sit down, Alex, I’ll get you some water or something...”  Tom insisted, guiding his friend to the bed.  Alex merely nodded his head up and down.  At this, Tom turned and hurled himself from the room, as fast as he could to get downstairs for a couple of water bottles.

“What’s the hurry?”  Cynthia asked, smiling up at Tom when he rushed into the room and over to the fridge.

“Alex is blaming himself for that accident that went on this morning, and I’m getting him some water.”  Tom said shortly, grabbing a couple bottles from the fridge.

“All right, thanks for telling me.  He has been doing that ever since his aunt and uncle died in a car accident two years ago, he told me he swore he saw it before in a dream and could have stopped it, silly boy.”  Cynthia chuckled and shook her head, going back to cleaning the already spotless counter.  Tom stared at her for a few moments before turning and heading back to Alex’s room, numb with what he just heard.  Was it happening again, but this time with his neighbours instead of his aunt and uncle?

“Hey man,” Tom paused when he got in the room, for Alex wasn’t sitting on the bed anymore.  Tom didn’t have to look far before spotting his best friend perched on the window sill again, staring across the street.  “Here’s a water bottle.”

“Thanks.”  Alex said, unscrewing the bottle top and taking several gulps.  Tom put his down on the desk with a blunt thump.  Alex looked up at Tom curiously, for he looked very serious.  “Hey, uh, Tom?  What’s the matter?”

“You didn’t tell me you’ve had this sort of experience before.”  Tom said blankly.  He was still in shock from what he heard; maybe this wasn’t a coincidence after all.

“Yeah, this is why I was panicking.  It’s just like before with my aunt and uncle, I could have saved them!”  Alex exclaimed, waving his arms.  He looked suddenly exhausted, “If only I knew who and where they were.  I just hope it was just an accident, and not a murder.”  He sighed and turned his head towards Tom, “Does that make me an accessory to murder?”

“What?  No!  You had no possible way of knowing.”  Tom sighed and shook his head, bringing his hand up to run it through his hair. He wasn’t too sure of how he was going to convince his friend that it wasn’t connected, when he himself didn’t believe that.

“Yeah, well... I don’t know.  Let’s play video games.” Alex suggested, gesturing to the door, “I’ll get my mum to check on the neighbours later, to see what’s going on.  Come on!”  Alex stepped out of the room, closely followed by his best friend.  Tom idly wondered if the other boy had a multi personality disorder.

An antique tree in springtime bloom,
Towering over human beings,
Its vacant branches forebode doom,
The creeping spider from my dreams.

Jenna sighed and picked up the piece of paper she had just been writing on.  Her teacher told her to do limerick poem about a tree, and this seemed to be good enough.  Sure, she was moved up to sixth grade, the same as her brother, because she was a legal “genius”, but she didn’t believe this accusation.  She was happy that Harlow still treated her like she was a child, instead of a child prodigy.  She hated when people treated her like an adult, an older girl, when she was still just a child at heart.  Sure, she was a brilliant child, but a child none the less.  Jenna sighed again, before starting to write her next poem, about the same tree only from an emotional state.

If I were to die today,
There would be no witnesses.
Nobody would notice,
Nobody would care.
Lying here beneath this tree,
As its branches tower,
My feelings cower.
The wind whistles,
Making my hair toss,
And dance around,
My tear stained face.
While I leaned my cheek,
On its rough, lifeless bark,
I let myself think,
This tree,
Like a crab without its shell,
Nobody would care,
Nobody would notice,
There would be no witnesses,
If this tree were to die today.

She couldn’t understand why her brain instantly skipped to death and dying, but it seemed right to her.  Perhaps it was that dream she had the last night, the one that Harlow was ever so interested in.  She knew what she was describing to her, and she knew she didn’t have to act like she was such a baby, but she wanted Harlow to treat her like she normally did.  Jenna wanted Harlow to treat her like a baby.

“Jenna, are you awake?”  Sara called outside her door.  Jenna sighed and shoved her poems into her book bag before walking over to the door, while dragging her feet.

“What?”  She said stiffly, staring up at her somewhat pea-brained older sister, “Why are you calling on me at this time?”

“I just dropped Harlow off at her home, there were cops there, and could you do the laundry for today?  Please?  I’ve got to pack up Harlow’s things and clean my room, then control the little crazy and supervise him while he’s doing the dishes.”  Sara sighed and shook her head, obviously annoyed at the thought of babysitting their younger brother.

“I suppose.  Why were the police at Harlow’s home?  What happened?  Has her family arrived back yet?”  Jenna cocked her head to the side, watching her sister roll her eyes slightly.

“I have no idea, okay?  I just saw the cops there, after her neighbour, Cynthia Addams, called to get Harlow to come home.  I don’t know what they want with her.”  Sara said, waving her arms around as she spoke.  Jenna knew something wasn’t right, it was a gut instinct.

“You just abandoned her there?”  Just as Jenna asked, the door slammed against the wall and their brother calling out a good bye to his friends.

“Don’t forget the laundry!”  Sara snapped, heading towards the direction of their brother.  Jenna would have paid more attention to the argument that was going on between her older brother and sister, but instead her mind was racing with thoughts of Harlow.  Jenna couldn’t help but think of several scenarios, and one was retaining to the dream she had the previous night.  Could that have been foretelling something?  Had Harlow’s parents crashed their car and died?  Jenna would have to wait and find out, but first, she had laundry to do to avoid the wrath of Sara Campbell.

Harlow awoke, dazed and a little confused.  There was someone standing over her, and when she opened her eyes further, she saw that is was Officer Redbird, the man who had just told her that her parents and little brother were dead, the word echoed in her mind.  Harlow’s body convulsed in to violent shivers, as she sat up on the sofa.

“Are you all right, Ms. Black?”  Officer Redbird asked with eyes full of concern, “You fainted there, I was worried.  I know it’s a lot to handle in one go, but I assure you, that I will be here.”  He patted her shoulder softly, “Is there anyone I can call for you?”

Harlow nodded, “My friend, Sara Campbell.  She’s all I have left.”  Her voice was quiet, and shaky.   This news was a lot for a teenager to take in, and she was still in shock.  She rattled off the phone number to Officer Redbird, and he got up and walked over to the end table where Harlow’s family placed the phone.

“Hello, is this Ms. Sara Campbell?”  Officer Redbird waited a few seconds before saying, “I am here at Ms. Harlow Black’s home, helping her deal with her recent loss.  It is recommended that someone that she trusts is here as well, instead of just a stranger.  If you have time, would you please come by to comfort your friend?  I believe she needs a friendly face.”  He finished and hug up the phone.  When the officer turned towards Harlow, he found her with her knees tucked up to her chest on the couch, crying.

Yesterday Jenna listened to Sara’s phone call about Harlow, something about a loss.  Then, later that night around ten o’clock, she overheard her mother talking over the phone to Sara.  According to those two phone conversations, Jenna’s dream was coming true, and she didn’t like that.  She sat on her bed, staring at the wall, worrying herself sick over Harlow.  What would happen to her usually smiling friend?  How would Harlow and Sara’s relationship end up?  They were such good friends, they were like sisters.  If they stopped being so close, Jenna would have no reason to talk to Harlow, and she would have nobody left to treat her like the little kid she was behind the brain.

Jenna heard the mailbox close upstairs, and she figured the paper boy finally delivered this morning’s paper.  Slowly, Jenna made her way over to the door; opening it just enough to reach her arm around and grab the morning edition of the Brandon Sun.  When she looked at the front page, she heaved a depressed sigh.  So, it appeared to Jenna that her dream was true.

FAMILY PERISHES IN ROLL OVER
by Allison Jones

Early Sunday morning, at 8AM, a mini-van was found rolled over with three occupants, a male and female in their forties, and a male youth, on highway 10, just outside the city by a patrol car.  The family was allegedly coming home from the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, when they lost control by taking the corner too quickly, blew both tires on the left side of their mini-van and flipped several times.  None of the surrounding homes and businesses reported any noises of the incident.  The only remaining relative, a local high-school student, has been notified.  The investigation is still ongoing.

Jenna sighed, throwing the paper onto the kitchen table before heading back to her bedroom.  She could have prevented this, but how?  She didn’t know how or when it was going to happen...  Perhaps it already happened.  Jenna sighed softly, falling back onto her bed.  She was supposed to go to school today, but she faked sick so she could get the paper before her family did.  Her mother and father worked all day, and her brother was at school.  Sara, of course, was with Harlow still.  Normally, parents would not leave their nine year old at home, but considering Jenna was smart enough to fend for herself, they figured it would be all right.  Besides, she was even more mature than Sara at times.

Jenna was most fearful of what she would dream tonight, had she been having visions her whole life and not realized until now?  What made that vision more clear than all the other dreams...?  She knew instantly.  The vision was a lot clearer, and it was actually like she was standing there, in the future, watching this all happen.  Now, Jenna would be able to know when she gets hints about the future.

“I wonder how Harlow is.  I wish I could give her a hug right now.”  Jenna sighed and fell backwards onto her bed, closing her eyes.  She wasn’t tired, but for some reason her eyelids got heavy, and she fell fast asleep.

***

In Jenna’s dreams, there were blurs and winding roads.  It was confusing, and then it got really sharp, everything was clear.  Jenna was walking down the cemetery lane.  She was walking beside someone, an old lady she doesn’t remember seeing before.  The woman had long silver hair, tied back in a braid, and soft eyes, almost purple in color.  Her skin was pale, and it looked very fragile.  Her lips were moving, but Jenna didn’t hear anything but the strong wind and the squawking crows in the weekend.  It all got silent when she reached a tombstone.  Out of nowhere, the old woman pulled out a mirror and placed it in front of Jenna’s face.  She froze when she saw the reflection, she wasn’t nine anymore, she looked like she was in her late teens, or early twenties.

“What?”  Jenna’s voice sounded more annoyed than confused, like she wanted it to sound.  This is strange, not only did Jenna appear to be her older self; she was also in a situation she didn’t understand at all.  This was new.

The lady smiled sadly, placing the mirror back into her large alligator pattern bag.  Now that she noticed more of the old lady, she saw that she was wearing a bunch of different animal print clothes.  Her jacket was fox and rabbit fur, her shirt was leopard print, and her pants had a zebra print on it.  She wore silver framed glasses and crusty make up.  She also had tons of silver jewellery, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings.  She turned back to Jenna and smiled.

“You do remember me, young one?  My name is Krystal.  I’m bringing you here to show you something.”  Her voice was laced with sadness, and she frowned when she brought a long, crooked finger to point at the gravestone in front of them.  Her nail was long, and painted bright red, like her lips.

When Jenna turned her head to look at the grave stone, the name shocked her slightly, “Harlow Black...”  She felt her voice choke as she fell to the ground.  Behind her someone walked up, she didn’t turn around to see who it was.

“I’m sorry, Jen.  I tried my hardest to see what would happen next.  Nobody could have prevented her death.  Not even a seer.”  A man spoke behind her, with a voice husky with emotion.

Another man spoke after him, “It’s all right Tom, just remember she loved you with all her heart, and let her soul live on within you.  She loved you, man.”  The man was obviously comforting the first one.

“Jen... I’m s... so... S... sorry!” Jenna recognized this voice as her sisters’.  She turned her head slightly, to see her sister standing beside the old lady, holding hands with the one boy, who had his mouth turned town slightly, with almost black hair.  He was patting the other boy, who was covering his face with a handkerchief.  He had dirty blonde hair, and he was shaking violently.

***

Jenna awoke with a jolt, sitting upright on her bed.  The blood rushed to her head and caused her to fall forwards on her knees.  She was sweaty and breathing heavily.  She didn’t have any idea what she just witnessed, only that Harlow was dead, and everyone was grieving her death...  Another thing Jenna just didn’t understand was... What was this seer thing that the old lady was talking about?

Tom sighed slightly, shifting himself out of bed, into the shower, and in to clothes.  He then wandered down the stairs to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of orange juice.  His mother walked in and threw the paper on the counter before smiling and heading to the living room to start her unpacking.  Luckily for Tom, the kitchen was mostly cleared now of boxes and unpacking materials.  He glanced towards the paper and read:

FAMILY PERISHES IN ROLL OVER

This intrigued Tom, so he read on, his mouth falling open slightly.  He instantly connected this article with the other day, when Tom and Alex were panicking over Alex’s dream and the police at his neighbour’s house.

Suddenly, Tom’s phone rang and he picked it up the receiver.  It was Alex.  “The only remaining relative, a local high-school student, has been notified.  The investigation is still ongoing.”  His voice was rushed through the receiver.

“Yeah, I know.  I read it.  I’m going to meet you at school now, ‘kay?”  Alex agreed and Tom hung up the phone, running out of the house without calling a good bye to his mother.

***

“I told you, it was related to my dream!”  Alex yelled, as soon as Tom got near the school’s front entrance.  Alex sprinted towards Tom, almost bowling him over in the process, “You saw the news article, right?  Well, I had another dream last night, only it was about a burial...  Only, it was only one person being buried.  What could this mean?”  His voice was laced with worry and excitement, but in his eyes he was holding something back.

“Is that all?  What else is there?”  Tom tried to look into Alex’s eyes, but he kept looking away.  “Tell me!”  He snapped loudly, a few freshman girls that were walking past them jumped, made noises of protest then sped walked into the school.

“Well, uh... I had this other dream too, but it was probably just a dream and not a vision.”  Alex was instantly awkward, looking away and rubbing his hands together.  Sometimes Tom wondered if he had some sort of disorder.

“Tell me, man, I want to know!”  Tom snapped, visibly irritated at his best friend.  His arms were crossed across his chest, and his fists balled up.  He was scowling, with his eyebrows hunched together in an angry fashion.  Alex, on the other hand continued to look awkward, scratching the back of his neck while playing with a loose string on his sweater.  His left foot hit the ground in a repeated motion.

“Um, well.  I kind of had a dream that you were getting married to a girl with long brown hair.” Alex looked up into Tom’s sceptical face, “It’s stupid, I know, but I was jealous that you found someone and I didn’t.  In the dream, I felt happy for you, and really excited, but I was kind of pissed off when I woke up.”

“You are...”  Tom paused, and then burst out laughing, “An...” More laughter, until the point that Tom had to clutch his sides, “Idiot! Ha, ha haaa!”  He gasped for breath several times, steadying himself enough to look up at Alex.  Alex’s dumbfounded expression caught him off guard and forced him in to another fit of laughter.

“Hey!  That’s not funny!  I was worried about you ditching me for some chick after you got married, that’s all!”  Alex snapped, grinding his teeth.

“Part of marriage is spending time with the one you marry,” Tom said, after getting himself back together, “And, man, I would not just ditch you all the time for my wife, I would need some man to man talk sometime.”  He lazily punched Alex’s arm.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Alex smirked as the bell rang, “Better go.”  He spat, and the two of them headed in to their first class together.

Harlow got up slowly, breathing in the scent of her own bedroom, an overwhelming feeling of home washing over her.  She glanced out the window and saw that it was sunny out, and her alarm clock read 10:13 AM.  She sighed and then remembered everything that had happened the day before.  Her parents were dead, and her best friend was probably raiding her fridge right now.  Slowly, Harlow moved herself off her bed, out of the room and to the small bathroom beside her room.  She took a long, hot shower; the water running down her body hid the quiet tears that flowed freely from her eyes.  Slowly, she sunk to the bottom of the shower, and tucked her knees up to her chest, muttering, “Why did this happen to me?”

Jenna gazed with boredom out the window of her classroom.  She was on the second floor, and she could see a physical education class running laps around the track outside.  This was actually more boring than the lesson Mr. Ian Woon was trying to teach the class.  Everyone else just called him Mr. Woon, but whenever Jenna had to ask him something, or respond to something, she used his first name also.  Everyone thought she was daring to do this, but in reality, he didn't mind at all.  Mr. Ian Woon and Harlow were the only people who treated Jenna like she was a person, and not a little girl.  She thought about Harlow for the majority of her science class, they were learning about how a volcano works, which was not a very hard concept for Jenna to understand.  Then, as if Mr. Ian Woon noticed that Jenna was no longer paying attention to what was going on in his class, he announced that they were going to finish off the hour with a lab.  Jenna hates labs.

"Hey, Jenna!  Want to go out and play some soccer?"  Rachelle called across the room, her friends all turning towards where Jenna was standing, waiting for everyone to leave.  They always seemed to want to play and be nice to Jenna, but she knew them all to well.  They just wanted her to be their friend so they would have her as a support when they couldn't do something in a subject.

"No, I am fine.  I have something to ask Mr. Ian Woon first before I go outside."  They all smiled and nodded before heading out the room.  Mr. Ian Woon looked up from his desk to see what Jenna wanted.  "Mr. Ian Woon, Can I stay inside and have a nap?  I didn't get a lot of sleep last night because I was worrying about my friend.  Her parents and brother just died."  Jenna was speaking in a monotonous voice.

"Oh, of course, Jenna.  I'll shake you awake before everyone comes rushing in to save you a headache."  He smiled from ear to ear and put his head back down to finish marking.  Jenna liked her homeroom teacher, because he was practically putty in her hand.

Doing as she said she would, Jenna crossed her arms on her desk and sat down, placing her head on her arms.  It only took a few moments for her to fall asleep.

***

Jenna was sitting on a rocking chair, rocking slowly back and forth.  She looked up and stared into the mirror directly across her.  She seemed to be the same age as she was in her previous dream, her late teens or early twenties.  Jenna looked down and saw what was in her arms, a gorgeous baby with short, dark curly hair.  It opened its eyes slowly and Jenna saw that it had pale green eyes.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she?"  A soft, mother like voice spoke from beside where Jenna was sitting, and before even glancing up at the woman, Jenna knew that it was Harlow.  She had her dark hair tied back in a French braid, and she was wearing a loose red sweater.  Jenna couldn't help but notice she looked exactly like a new mother should.  Worried, tired and content.  Jenna looked down at the baby again, and stroked it's cheek.

"She looks just like Tom, but with your hair color."  Jenna said, even though she didn't know who this Tom fellow was, she assumed it was Harlow's husband.

"Yes, I was fortunate enough to fall in love with such an amazing man.  Thank you for introducing me."  Jenna glanced up and smiled at Harlow, who smiled back.

***

 

Sighing, Jenna lifted her head from her desk to look around at her still empty class room.  Just then, Mr. Ian Woon walked in and smiled with a chuckle, "I was just coming to wake you up!"

Harlow unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out.  She only had a towel wrapped around her, and her hair was still damp.  With a swift glance down her hallway, she concluded that Sara was either still sleeping or stuffing her face with food.  Quickly, Harlow went into her room and dressed.

"Hey, um, Harlow, are you awake?"  Sara's voice called softly from the direction of the door.

"I'm awake."  Harlow answered shortly, pulling on a plain black t-shirt.

"I made you some bacon, eggs and toast, if you want it.  I heard the shower shut off, so I decided you might be hungry.  If you want me to make you something else, I can."  Sara sounded like she was talking to a three year old instead of to her best friend, this simply irritated Harlow to the point of walking over to the door and throwing it open, glaring at her best friend.

"You know, I'm not going to start crying if you treat me like a human being!  Stop talking to me like I'm a fragile piece of china, because I'm not!"  Harlow glared at Sara, who looked kind of scared.  Almost as soon as the smell of bacon reached Harlow's nose however, she forgave her friend easily and walked like a zombie to her kitchen to eat her favourite breakfast.

Tom and Alex's day of school was just the usual, boring typical day.  They were bored out of their minds in one class, hyped up in physical education, and then bored out of their mind in all their other classes.  They ate lunch with a bunch of the other boys, most of whom Tom had just met.  They decided to meet at the theatre at four, so as soon as they got out of class, Tom and Alex started to walk.  Most of the other boys had to go home first to get money, and a lot of the others were just too lazy to walk.

Tom and Alex played the old "kick the stone until they're running as fast as they can, tripping over themselves" game.  By the time they got to the path to the theatre through the Cemetery, they were panting heavily.  Alex always got chills when it came to graveyards, and Tom liked to take walks amongst the graves, so Tom walked closer to the graveyard.  When they got just past the first few rows of graves, they noticed an old woman dressed in odd animal print clothing.  Tom stared at her, while Alex kept jabbing his finger into Tom's rib cage to get him to look away.  No matter what Alex did to Tom, he wouldn't stop starting at the old woman.  Then Alex looked at her himself.

"Hey! You!  You were in my dream about a wedding!  You were sitting beside me!  You commented on how beautiful it all was!  Who the hell are you?"  Alex shouted, the old woman starting directly at him now.  The two stared at each other for what seemed like ages before her lips curled up in to a smile.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Alex."  Her voice was high pitched, and it sounded like she had trouble breathing.  She was clutching a large, clunky alligator print bag and she was wearing crusty make up.  It also looked like she had not washed her hair in awhile, for it looked like she had used grease instead of water in her long white hair.

"Who are you?  How do you know my name?"  Alex demanded, stomping towards the woman.  She chuckled softly and tilted her head, her earrings clanking against one another.

“My name is Krystal.  It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, a true pleasure.  I just have one last thing to say to you before I leave, Alex Addams.”  She paused, waiting for Alex’s response, which he didn’t give, “Listen to your dreams, and don’t ignore a single one of them.”  She smiled sweetly and walked the opposite direction of the two boys, her hips moving jerkily, as if she broke them at some point in her life.

Tom blinked slightly and stared after the lady, nudging Alex who had just returned to his side, “How did she know about the dreams?” Alex shook his head, still staring at the woman’s retreating form, “That was kind of freaky.”  Alex nodded, staying silent and the boys turned and hurried to the movie theatre.

Harlow just spent the whole day packing up her things, telling her best friend, Sara, to buzz off whenever she tried to help.  It wasn’t that Harlow didn’t need her help, it’s just that Harlow needed to do something to keep her mind active, and to keep it from shutting off.  She was packing up every little thing in their messy house, throwing out several things her parents would have cried over.

“When will they ever use them again?”  Harlow muttered bitterly, instantly regretting what she said and feeling a wave of sadness wash over her.  Sara was in the other room, talking on the phone to someone about not being able to go to the movies.  Slowly Harlow walked up behind her.

“Yeah, I’d rather stay with Harlow to make sure she’s okay.”  In Sara’s voice there was two kinds of sadness, some for not being able to go to the movie, and some for Harlow.  This made Harlow a little pissed off at her friend.

“Sara.  Go to the movie... Now, please.”  Her voice was monotonous again, making Sara not want to argue against her best friend; instead she just told whoever was on the other side of the receiver to come pick her up in ten minutes.

“I’m sorry I’m leaving you alone, I’ll come back as soon as the movie is done showing, okay?”  Sara said sadly, hugging her best friend.  Harlow sighed.

“No, don’t.  Go out with your friends afterwards.   Go to a fancy restaurant or something.  You can always pick me up some A&Ws if you really feel guilty.  I have a craving for onion rings.”  Harlow half smiled, trying to convince her best friend to leave her alone for a little while so she could think alone and cry however long she wanted.

“Okay, be safe and call me if you need anything, and I mean anything.  My phone will be on during the showing, and I will gladly leave in the middle to come back here, okay?  I’ll be back with food.”  Sara was having a hard time taking Harlow seriously, because Harlow’s face was ashen, and there were obvious tear stains on her cheeks.  But, Sara smiled sweetly and discussed what Harlow wanted to eat until the time her ride came to pick her up.  With one last hug, Harlow turned around and listened to her friend shut the door, and then she sank to her knees against the archway into the kitchen and let out all her pain through tears.

Jenna sighed softly, idly searching through thousands of pictures on the net.  Her homework was done, her chores completed and she was as bored as ever, so she was wasting time on the computer.  She wanted to go see Harlow, but her mother said that it wasn’t a good idea to bother her right now.  Jenna, of course, thought the opposite.  She figured that Harlow needed someone constantly with her to comfort her, because this was a rather large and traumatizing event in her life.  If Jenna had lost her entire immediate family, she would want to have someone there with her, hugging her and holding her to tell her that everything is okay, and it’ll all be okay in the long run.  Of course, after something that traumatizing happens so suddenly, no one ever goes back completely to the way they were, unless they put up a mental block.  Jenna was worried that Harlow would treat her more like an adult now like everyone else, instead of the little girl that she was.

Jenna sighed and began to search for things that could keep her entertained, when something popped into her mind.  She used a search engine to look for key words about “seeing the future within dreams”, and to her surprise, she found a lot of different websites, some of them outlining exactly what she was going through, others completely off the par, and even one about some movie.  She searched through several of these sites until she saw one that unnerved her just enough for her to click on it.  The title of the blog was “Jenna C. Read this to learn about your dreams.”  It was a long explanation, most of what made sense to what she was going through.  There were little quotations, of things Jenna herself had gone through, and at the end it said, “If you aren’t afraid of the animal print lady, my name is Krystal, and I will meet you at the cemetery in the South end of the city at 8PM.  Today.”  With one look at when the blog was made, it was put up just several minutes ago.  Chills went down Jenna’s back, for when she refreshed the page, it was not found.

An hour later, after dinner, at 6:30PM, Jenna grabbed her sweater and a knapsack of essentials for a dark evening and snuck out of the house, heading towards the South end of the city.

Alex leaned back on the theatre chair; they were fifteen minutes early for the showing.  He then noticed one of his classmates, entering behind her friends, looking upset.  It was Sara Campbell, one of Harlow’s friends.  She was missing today at school, so Alex automatically presumed that she was with her friend.  She came and sat a seat away from Alex with her friends.

“Hey, Sara, were you with Harlow today?”  Alex leaned over and asked, she merely nodded, not saying anything.  Alex could almost sense she was thinking about how Harlow was right now, “How is she doing?”  He looked generally interested, which caused Sara to look shocked.

“She’s fine... How’d you know?”  She was suspicious now, “How many people at school know about this?  I don’t want it to be a big thing when she gets back to school.”  Sara seemed to be generally worried about her friend and any gossip that might be going around at school.

“Don’t worry about who knows, I was only wondering if it was her family, I, well me and Tom,” He thumbed over his shoulder at Tom, who was also listening to the conversation.  Tom nodded his head. “We saw cops outside her house, and then the paper the next day made something click in our heads, you know.”  Alex expertly left out the part about his dream.

“Okay, yeah.  She’s a little broken right now, but she’s doing well otherwise.  She basically kicked me out of the house, with her only request being that I pick her up some A&Ws.”  Sara said, trying to smile at the last part.

Alex nodded and sighed, tilting her head, “Tell her I’m thinking of her.”  Then he paused and chuckled, “And could you try and make it sound like I’m not some freak?”  He smirked at Sara as she laughed at what he said.  Alex had never before noticed how beautiful Sara looked when she was laughing naturally, and now realized that when she was with these preppy friends she was with tonight, she never laughed like this.  He remembered seeing her and Harlow together at school laughing, just like this during middle school, Alex smiled at the memory.

Tom nudged Alex slightly, “Hey want to come with me to get some popcorn?”

“Sure!  Hey, Sara can you save our seats for us?”  Alex asked politely.  She smiled and nodded, and he followed Tom out of theatre number six.

Jenna finally reached the cemetery, and she was as nervous as ever.  In her pocket she clutched a jack knife, in case someone tried to jump her.  She walked amongst the graves, all her senses on high alert.  It was starting to get dusk, and that spooked her slightly, for the shadows were long and spooky.  She may be a genius, but trivial things like that still scared her sometimes, as it would other, normal children.  She kept walking, with no sign of the woman she was supposed to be meeting...  At least, she thought it was a woman, her name was Krystal.  It could be a man, and that man could be stronger than her.  She got a little spooked by this idea, and began to look around more frequently now, scanning over every surface to see if she can see anyone around where she was.  Jenna then saw a figure down the rows of graves, standing in the middle of an area that was reserved for later burials.  The woman was wearing a fox and rabbit fur jacket, and she had long, greasy white hair, the spot where the woman was standing was the place that Jenna remembered in her dreams, the place where Harlow would be buried.

"Are you Krystal?"  Jenna asked, standing a few meters away from the old woman, cautiously getting closer to her.

"Yes, I am.  You are Jenna.  Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."  Her voice was high-pitched, but soft, with a slight croak to it.  She was now looking at Jenna, with a small smile on her lips.  She may have bad hair, make up and clothing style, but it seemed that she had good intentions.

"Yes, I am.  Would you be kind enough to share with me why you wanted to meet me here?"  She tilted her head and approached the woman, still clutching the knife in her pocket.

"You are a seer, a medium of sorts.  You see the future through dreams...  I have that power too, only stronger than yours and Alex Addams'."  She smiled down at her, and Jenna thought a second before she realized that Alex Addams was one of her sister's classmates.

"You mean Alex gets these... these visions too?"  Jenna frowned slightly, "What if he does not understand what is happening, gets scared and tries to do something about it?"  Jenna was now worried for this boy's safety, for when humans discover something that they don't like about themselves, they tend to freak out and either hurt themselves or those around them.

"Yes, though he doesn't know what to make of it.  He won't harm anyone, including himself.  He has his friend, Tom, to guide him through the rough spots of being a seer."  The old woman said, smiling softly, "I asked you to meet me here because lately I've been getting a lot of visions of a group of teenagers in this area, and one young girl, who didn't act her age."  The woman smiled down upon Jenna.

"Ah, so... You know what these things are then?  I've had three so far, at least three that I can call visions.  One was of a funeral in the future, the next was visiting this very place, and the last is holding my friend, Harlow Black's baby."  Jenna explained, frowning slightly, she had no idea what all this could mean.

"Aah, yes.  As much as I don't want the last to come true, you must aim for more visions like that.  That is the ideal future."  She smiled once again, this time it was a saddened smile, as if there was some sort of tragedy regarding what she said, "A seer has a lot of responsibilities, and restrictions.  Per say, you cannot have a vision of someone you do not know about, with some exceptions."  Krystal paused, "None of the restrictions apply to me, but all the responsibilities do.  I am what you would call the head of the seers, the main point.  So far, I've only met seven other seers, two of which are dead now, one is on her death bed, and two have disappeared from my radar."  The old woman chuckled then added, "And of course you and Alex are the last two."

Jenna didn't know what to think or say, "Wow..."  Was all she could manage, she didn't know that this sort of thing was actually real; she thought it was only in stories and things like that.  She frowned and asked, "How do I stop Harlow from dying?"  She knew that's what her one dream was about, and she didn't like it at all.

"You have to listen to your dreams, and do what you believe is the right thing to do."  The woman nodded wisely, "But now, I have to go home and feed my cats."  She bid Jenna a farewell and headed off, down the road, walking as if she broke her hip.

Jenna sighed and headed out of the cemetery, for it was making her feel depressed and a little worried about Harlow.  Then she got an idea, why doesn't she go to Harlow's and spend a little time with her?  Jenna started to skip, her hand still on the knife in her pocket.

The movie was more boring than Alex could have predicted.  Tom was really getting in to it for some reason, Alex didn’t really know.  Apparently it was adapted from some book, and Tom read it.  There was a boring love scene doing on when Alex put his head back on his chair and nodded off.

***

He looked down at what he was wearing, a white muscle shirt, and light blue jeans.  He then glanced at the knife in his hand.  Alex wondered why he was holding a knife.  He moved knowledgably through the house, a house Alex himself had never been in before.  He was walking down a hallway, opening each door and checking every door.  The final door he checked was locked.  Alex felt himself smile.

“Come out, come out, I won’t bite, sweetheart, and it’ll only sting for a little bit.”  He called, softly, but in such a creepy way that he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand out.  Alex backed up a few steps, and then kicked the door down.  He glanced at the bed, where he saw Harlow Black cowering, and her eyes red with tears.  She was a phone in one hand, and the other was gripping the sheets.

“No!  No!  Please!  No!”  She screeched, throwing the phone at him with all her force.  It missed and shattered against the now shut door. 

“You will be able to see your parents and your little brother again,” his voice was lazy, with an obvious playful edge to it.  Alex then swiftly looked around the room, nothing interested him, and so he approached Harlow, holding the knife up above his head.  With one swift movement, and one last gurgled shriek from Harlow, she stopped moving, and blood splattered everything, including his own muscle shirt.  This aggravated Alex so he kept attacking her, mutilating her body beyond recognition.  When he was finished, he headed out of the house, a picture catching his eye.  It was Harlow all dressed up for senior prom, with Tom standing beside her.  He let out a slightly crazed laugh and pinned the picture to the wall with the bloody knife he held.

***

Alex awoke with a gasp, his heart pounding loudly and painfully in his chest.  He glanced around, Tom looking at him strangely.  The credits were flashing across the large screen.

“You fell asleep, you dirt bag!”  Tom snapped, sounding oddly like his mother yelling at his father back in their old city.

“Calm down, calm down.”  Alex laughed then lowered his voice, looking serious, “I saw another one.”

Tom’s face went pale, “What was it about?”  He asked curiously, ignoring the fact Alex fell asleep during the movie and the fact that everyone around them was asking if they wanted to go get something to eat.

“In my dream, I killed Harlow... But, I would never do something like that.  She was obviously just out of school; I remember seeing her senior prom picture in the house.”  He looked worried, and then he realized she had not graduated yet, or even met Tom, “It’s obvious that there’ll be something between you two.”

“That’s not important right now!  Do you have any idea of who could have done it, if not you?”  Tom asked, furrowing his brow.

“No, I don’t that’s--” Alex was interrupted.

“Hey, you guys want to go over to Montana’s for a bite to eat?”  A girl from their class called out.  Tom and Alex looked at each other for a moment before heading out of the theatre after it.  They both knew they’d talk about this later.

Harlow sighed, having just finished packing up her little brother’s room.  Now, that was an emotional struggle.  She placed the last box of stuff to give away in her living room, and headed to the kitchen to make herself some tea.  She placed the kettle on the stove and went to get the mugs, when she heard the door bell ring.  Harlow wasn’t expecting any company.

Quickly, Harlow darted to the door in her sweats and t-shirt, only to find that it was Jenna standing outside her door, looking very awkward.

“Hey you!  What are you doing here so late?  Where’s your mum, or Sara?”  Harlow looked down at Jenna with concern.  This made Jenna giggle and smile goofily.  She loved how Harlow treated her.

“I wanted to give you a hug!”  She chirped, spreading her arms wide, and letting go of the knife for the first time since she left her home.  Harlow cracked a wide smile and bent down to give Jenna a tight hug.

“Would you like some cookies and milk?  Then I’m going to call your sister to come and take you home, it’s late for someone your age to be out.”  Harlow scolded Jenna playfully, walking over to the fridge to get the milk.

“Yes, I know.  I just wanted to make sure you were all right, I was worried how you left without all your things yesterday.”  Jenna pointed out, making her voice sound like she was a little girl.

Harlow gave Jenna the glass of milk, and a bag of cookies, “Don’t worry about me, Jenny.  Now, I’m going to call your sister.  It’s past eight, you know.”  Harlow frowned and walked over to her phone, dialling the number she knew all too well.

“Okay, I’ll come get her and bring her home.  I just picked up your food, and we’re driving to your house now.”  Sara hung up her phone after Harlow called her.  Her two other girlfriends in the car were looking at her strangely, as she put her phone back into her purse.

“What is with you and Harlow?  Why isn’t she getting her own food, and why did you skip school today with her?”  Amanda, one of Sara’s more snooty friends asked, in her annoying nasal voice.

“Well, she’s just having a little trouble at home, that’s all.  I’m her friend, so I wanted to help her out.”  Sara looked around the car uneasily, “That’s what friends are for, are they not?”  She smiled awkwardly, but Amanda just flipped her bleached blonde hair at Sara and started to stare out the window bitterly.  Sara knew she would never hear the end of this, for Amanda would bug her for the next few years about being better friends with Harlow than her �" which was true.  Harlow sighed and leaned back against the seat, staring out the window with sadness in her eyes.

Tom sighed, closing the door to his bedroom with a short snap.  His mind was spinning around the dream �" vision, whatever it was, that Alex has at the theatre.  Whoever this Harlow girl was, she was in trouble in the long run, and she was also somehow involved with Tom himself.  Tom began to pace his room, tapping his foot ever so often against a box that he has not unpacked yet.  Soon after, he just could not stop himself anymore.  Speedily, Tom raced to his desk, slipping on a piece of bubble wrap and landing oddly under his desk.  He had also bumped his head somehow on the way down.  He raised his arm and rubbed his head slowly.  Tom did not forget why he raced over to his desk, and got the phone from its holder.  Quickly, he dialled his best friend’s phone number.

Alex sat on the curb, waiting for Tom to get to his house.  Alex was beginning to criticize his best friend’s slow nature, his sloth pace, when Tom sprinted around the street corner towards Alex.

“Jesus, where’s the fire, Tom?”  Alex laughed at his best friend, who was now beside him kneeling over and panting like a hot dog.

“Hey... Hey, we need to,” He panted again, wiping his brow with his arm.  It was fairly obvious that he ran the entire way here, which was at least twelve blocks, and Tom was not exactly an athletic guy, “Harlow!”  He barked, pointing at the house across the street.  There was a single light on in the living room, and it was flickering.  Alex instantly pointed out it was a television.

“Well, we have time, and you need a glass of water.”  Alex chuckled, then turned towards his house, “Come on, we’ll go in ten minutes, at eight, okay?”  Tom merely followed his best friends inside.

Harlow hugged her old teddy bear tightly to her chest while watching cartoon re runs on her family’s old television.  Her face was tear-stained, and her breath stunk like onions from her dinner.  Harlow had chased Sara out of her home as soon as she got her food, because she didn’t want company tonight.  She just wanted to be alone to clear her mind without her best friend complaining at her every other second about her behaviour, or having her best friend remind her of her dead family.  Harlow shuddered and flipped the television channel, to some soap opera about a doctor impregnating his patient.   A smirk appeared on her face as she laughed at the amount of unbelievable fail that they had made out of the show.  She sighed and bent her head over the arm of her couch.

“And I will always love you...”  Harlow howled, her voice echoing around the nearly empty house.  She had moved all her stuff out and into a storage container west of town.  Her mind spun out of control and she started thinking about her childhood memories, about things she should have said instead of what she did say things she should not have done.  More tears stung the corner of her eyes, and she got up robotically and walked to the kitchen.  In the silver ware drawer, there were knives.  She stared at one in her hand, contemplating what would happen if she happened to ‘slip’ while cooking.  Her tears rolled off her cheeks and dripped onto the knife blade and the floor. 

The door bell rung suddenly, causing Harlow to jump and fling the knife into the empty sink.  Her heart was racing as she went over to the sink, grabbed at towel and wet it, rubbing her face with it.  She then used another dry towel to dry her face, she knew her eyes would still be red, but at least now it looked like she was crying earlier, and not now.  She sighed again and headed towards the doorway, peeking through the window on the way there.  It was two teenage boys.  She had no idea what they wanted.

“Hello?”  She asked, opening the door.  On the right was a boy she recognized from her school, Alex Addams she guessed at his name.

“Hey, Harlow.  How are you?”  Tom asked, his tone was apologetic, and it almost made Harlow want to roll her eyes.  Why were people like this?  What was wrong with people?  She smiled softly.

“I’m okay, I guess, thank you for your concern.”  Harlow tilted her head to the side, glancing at the other boy, “Can I help you two?”

“Uh, we’re just coming over to, um, talk to you about some stuff.”  The other boy who Harlow didn’t know, Tom, said timidly.

“Yeah, about what you missed in school in stuff.”  Tom smirked and stepped inside.  Harlow stepped back and let them inside, closing the door softly.

“Well, Sara covered some stuff with me.”  Harlow said, raising her eyebrows.  She now realized who Alex was, he was her neighbour.  She didn’t know how she didn’t notice it until now; he was Mrs. Addam’s �" Cynthia’s �" son.

“Yeah, we figured, would you mind taking a seat?  There’s something else Tom and I have to talk to you about.”  Alex explained slowly, sitting himself down at the kitchen table.  His friend, Tom, was looking around the house with wonder in his eyes.  He obviously didn’t understand why there was no clutter, or personal things in the house, just basic furniture.

“I’m renting the house out; I have no use of it any longer.  I’m going to go live with Sara.”  Harlow explained simply, answering all Tom’s unspoken questions.

“I see.  Well, the thing is,” Alex paused, biting his lip.  He obviously had no idea how to explain what he was thinking.  She waited patiently, tapping her fingers on the table.

“Alex can see in to the future.”  Tom blurted, staring directly into Harlow’s now startled eyes, “You see, he saw you being murdered, then... Then getting married and a lot of other things.”  Tom explained quickly, not stopping to breath.

“That’s...”  Harlow blinked, sinking it in.  She believed them, but they were two teenagers.  This made it more likely that they were just trying to pull a sick trick on her.  She narrowed her eyes and stood up quickly, the chair falling back and crashing against the floor, “Get out!  Get out of this house, now!”  She yelled, causing both of the boys to jump up and run towards the door.

“We’re telling the truth, Harlow!”  Alex said, worriedly.  But he soon shut up and ran out the door after Tom, for Harlow was hovering over them with a broom.

Harlow’s breathing was quick and painful.  Robotically she shut and locked the front door.  She dropped the broom and walked numbly to her bedroom.  As soon as she got there, she shut her door and locked it, turning on her lamp.  She dropped on to her bed and started to sob in to her pillow.  She was losing her mind, she knew it.  How could she even consider something as outrageous as those who boy’s “future seeing”.  An hour passed, and Harlow fell fast asleep, and like the day before, she had tears staining her cheeks.

“Ah, that was a stupid idea, Tom.”  Alex said, narrowing his eyes slightly towards his best friend and throwing a pillow at him.

“I didn’t know she was going to react like that!”  He burst out, throwing the pillow back.  He began to run his fingers through his hair, biting his lip.  He had no idea how he was going to be able to convince Harlow that Alex could see the future.

“Well, we’re going to have to try again.”  Alex sighed and leaned back onto his bed, “Did you see her face?  I wanted to hug her so bad; she looked heartbroken when she answered the door.”  His voice was laced in sadness.

“Yeah, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she?  Well, she looked kind of pissed off when you asked her how she was.  I could understand, I was the same way when my parents divorced.”  Tom mumbled, staring at the ceiling.

“Yeah, dude, you better go home soon, your mother is going to get pissed, then call up her boyfriend.”  Alex smirked and chuckled softly.

“Yeah, I’d better.  God forbid she picks up that phone, eh?”  Tom smirked, part of the reason he moved here was for his mother’s love interest, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, man.  See you tomorrow.”  Alex waved Tom out of his room, and Tom took his time walking home, unlike how he ran to Alex’s house earlier.  He had enough excitement for one night.

Jenna sat on the edge of her bed, her mind was wandering.  She had just had another dream, this time it was about herself.  She was in a white dress skipping about the graveyard, where she had met the old woman who wore animal print clothing.  She then Harlow walking along the graveyard, she looked scared like someone had just threatened to kill her.  She was wearing a pink hooded sweater and really short shorts, with three inch heels.  When Jenna had called out to her, she looked even more scared.  Then a man came up behind Jenna, and ran towards Harlow.  Harlow so spooked that she fell backwards in to an open grave.  The man jumped in after and she screamed, then there was silence.  The man got out of the grave and walked off without even looking back at Jenna.  Curious, Jenna walk forwards to see if Harlow was okay.  Jenna had to look away quickly to stop herself from throwing up at the sight.  Harlow’s body was chopped up, and there was blood everywhere.  Jenna had never been a very big fan of blood; it had always freaked her out even when she was little.

Slowly, Jenna made her way upstairs for a glass of milk.  When she got into the kitchen, she noticed that her mother was still off at the table.  “What is wrong, mom?”  Jenna asked innocently.

“Oh, nothing.  I’m just getting ready for when Harlow moves in with us.  She’ll be staying in the room beside yours.” Jenna’s mother replied.

“Oh, neat.  When is she going to be moving in?”  Jenna was genuinely curious now, for she really liked Harlow and liked the idea of her coming to stay with her and her family.  She had almost completely forgotten about her dream, for now. 

Her mother groaned and got up, walking towards the door, “Go to bed, you have school tomorrow.”

“Yes, mom.”  Jenna replied, getting a glass of milk.  She was smiling in spite of her most recent dream, thinking about all the fun times her and Harlow would have.

His voice was loud in his empty basement room, “Ah-ha-ha, these cops know nothing of my murders yet, nor will they ever truly find out.  Harlow Black, how could you have not gone with your family on that trip into Winnipeg, huh?  Silly girl, I will find you, and I will make sure you’re eliminated.  You will not be the end of me, silly girl!”  The man’s laughter was maniacal, and he had spiky black hair with some grey spots, and very bad skin.  He had cuts and scars along his body, and he looked generally like a bad guy. 

A small, timid looking girl walked into the room, “Would you keep it down?  Some of us are trying to sleep.”  Her voice was snappy, and irritated.

“Yes, dear.  I’m just thinking, plotting.  Soon, you and I will be safe from any danger, as soon as I kill that Harlow black, she’s the one that does me in.”  He scowled at the wall, rubbing his hands together.

“Oh, really now?  Because I saw her still alive, and you and I living together with children.”  She placed her hands on her hips and pouted.

“Yeah, well, I saw differently.  She stopped us from being together, killing me in the process, so I must wipe her out, just like we did to those other seers.  There are a lot more of us than you would think, love, and I must protect the both of us from the negative seers and relatives!  Harlow does not know this, but her little brother was shaping up to be a fine seer, just like his grandfather.  I had to eliminate him before he could take another thing away from me!”  The man’s voice was angered, and he glared at a picture across the room, of his parents.

“Sweetie.”  The woman came up behind him and hugged him, “I care about you so very much, please don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m not being stupid, dearest; I’m just trying to help us.”  He placed his hands on either side of her face and kissed her lips.  She sighed into the kiss.

Harlow sighed, pushing herself out of bed.  The sun was shining through the window.  Her alarm clock told her that it was about ten thirty in the morning.  Slowly, she pushed herself out of bed and to the kitchen, to get some breakfast.  She thought hard about what those boys told her, about Alex being able to see into the future.  She finished breakfast hurriedly and headed back towards her room, to sort out her things, to pack for moving in with the Campbell’s.  They had not known that her grandfather was placed in a mental hospital because he “saw things he couldn’t explain”, so she couldn’t be mad at them.  There was so much that bothered Harlow right now, so she shouldn’t waste her time on some teenage boy’s pranks.  Her father would know how to deal with them, when they started to give her a hard time.

She narrowed her eyes at a picture of her family, picking it up and throwing it across the room, “Thanks for leaving me, you jackasses!”  She shouted, then collapsed to her knees and started to sob uncontrollably.  She crawled over to the broken picture frame, and slid the picture out, slicing her hand in the process.  The blood flowed freely out of her wound and ended up all over everything, her pyjamas, and the hardwood floor and even on the picture itself.  Harlow made her way to the bathroom, to wrap her hand with a face cloth and see if she could restore one of the only pictures she had of her and her family together.  Luckily, the damage wasn’t too severe, and she managed to slip the picture into a zipper freezer bag and place it in her stuff before she unwrapped the towel to look at the cut.  Sadly, her hand wasn’t so undamaged; the cut was gaping open on her left hand, so it was still gushing blood.  She reached the phone and hastily dialled Sara’s number.  After eight rings, it went to voicemail.  Swearing, Harlow hung up the phone and called local hospital instead.

“Yes, hello.  I cut my hand open trying to clean up a broken picture frame, I think it needs stitches.”  Harlow said into the receiver.  The lady said that Harlow should come in right away, to avoid any infections.  Harlow didn’t have a ride, but she figured she knew someone who would be more than happy to help her out.  Harlow wrapped her arm up tightly, and locked her door, headed over to the Addam’s house.

“Mrs �" Cynthia, is there any way you could drive me over to the hospital?”  Harlow asked her eyes large and round, innocent.

“Oh!  Yes, of course, dear, what happened?”  She sounded so worried, and she guided Harlow to her car like Harlow had brain damage or something along that line.

“I was trying to clean up a picture frame that held my family’s photo, when I gashed my hand.  The lady at the hospital told me I should drive up there right away and get it stitched up, and since I don’t have a car, I decided to ask you if you could drive me up.  I’m sorry if this is bothering you.”  Harlow bowed her head and clutched her hand close to her.  She was glad she was buckled in, because Cynthia was driving like a psycho.

“Of course not, dear.  I always want to help you!”  Cynthia smiled, and continued to twist through traffic.

When they made it to the hospital, Cynthia stayed to keep Harlow Company, calling from the pay phone at the hospital to leave a message for her son, in case he was worried about where she went.  Harlow highly doubted that Alex would worry about where his mother went, since she was a very active woman in the community, and she was often out at park picnics or helping with a charity fundraiser.

Alex and Tom took a long time to walk home after school, both moving at Tom’s sloth speed.  They had decided that they would try and talk to Harlow again, tomorrow, after baking her cookies or something.  Alex had made up his and Tom’s mind that they should make chocolate chip, because everyone loves chocolate chip.  When they reached Alex’s house, they were suspicious that Cynthia, Alex’s mom, was gone.  Alex decided to check the phone’s messages for once.

“My mom is at the hospital with Harlow, apparently she cut her hand open on some glass.”  Alex said, raising his eyebrows, putting the phone back on its hook.

“Wow, we could like, make her get better cookies or something, or at least use that as an excuse.”  Tom suggested, sitting on the counter while stirring some ingredients for their cookies.

“Good idea, man!  We now have an excuse, and if Harlow knows my mother at all, she’ll know that my mom is a chatter mouth, and she likes to tell anyone and everyone about someone else’s personal business, that’s just the way my mom is.”  Alex smirked, pulling more ingredients out from various cup boards around the kitchen.

“You act like you’ve done this before, Alex.”  Tom laughed, continuing to stir the cookie batter.

“Yeah, well, my mom and I used to bake all the time, remember?  I just learned to know my way around the kitchen.  It’ll help when I move out, and I don’t have a woman in the house.  Like, dude, what are you going to do?”

“According to your dreams, I’m going to marry Harlow.”  Tom smirked.  Alex laughed and handed him a bag of chocolate chips.

The man had a rough face with calloused hands.  The girl that walked beside him was angelic, to say the least, she was absolutely gorgeous with an even face.  Her body was curvy, yet with strong, firm, muscles and her skin was clear and well kept.  Many would not suspect that the two of them were together, for they looked like they were of complete opposites.  Their hair even set them apart, hers being a soft, long blonde and his a short black and grey spiky mess.  Even so, the two of them walked hand in hand across the parking lot and in to Brandon’s General Hospital.  The man was told that he had to go with his girlfriend to this hospital, because they had to visit her brother, Mr. Ian Woon.  The man was definitely uneasy about his whole situation, his eyes darting from side to side while walking with the young woman.  He followed his girlfriend in, and then headed with her to her brother’s room.  Her brother had a heart attack the day before, something to do with blood pressure.  On their way up to the room, a teenage girl and another woman escorting her walked past.  The man noticed something familiar in the girl’s face, and it wasn’t until they were outside his girlfriend’s brother’s room that he realized who it was.

“That girl we passed in the hall was Harlow, the girl that will ruin our lives, dear, I must go after her!”  He said, his voice quiet yet intense.

“No, we’re visiting my brother, now come inside; he’ll want to see you again.”  The woman said shortly, heading into the room.  The man followed, crossing his arms angrily.

 

Author's Note

Ignore it all! All I say! It's just a unedited NaNoWriMo for my friends to read because they were curious.