Chapter Seventeen

My feet pound down the sidewalk to meet Tanner as soon as I can escape the house Monday morning. It’s the first time I’ve actually beat him to the corner. The look of surprise on his face when he sees me already waiting would have made me laugh if not for the fact that I am about to burst!

Tanner tries to pull me in for a kiss, but I don’t have time for that. “She has a twin sister!”

“What?” Tanner asks.

“Sibeal! I had another dream last night. You won’t believe what I saw!” I run my hands through my hair. “We weren’t seeing good Sibeal and bad Sibeal. We were seeing Sibeal as the sweet, shy girl she is, and then getting glimpses of the terrible things her sister Darcy has done. I think she’s the one who beat up Sibeal and locked her in her room in the second dream.”

Tanner starts walking toward the school in stunned silence. “A twin sister? Are you sure?”

I find his question really annoying, but I try not to take it personally. “Yes, I’m sure! I saw them both in the dream last night. They were definitely two separate people.”

“Wow. There’s two of them?” Tanner shakes his head. “I did not expect that. I really thought she had some serious psychological issues or something.”

“No, just a crazy sister.” I could hardly believe it when I woke up. I never even considered it. Rubbing at my tired eyes, I try to stay focused. “It does explain a lot about her parents insistence on privacy, all of the articles only calling her ‘daughter,’ and Sibeal’s total lack of online social life. I don’t think her family wanted anyone to know about Darcy. Maybe they knew something was wrong with her pretty early on.”

“It raises a whole other slew of questions, though.” He shakes his head. “Like, where is her sister? What’s the real reason her and her mom are here alone? Where did she get the power you saw in the dream and does she still have it? Why does her reflection do weird things? And let’s not forget, who is sending the dreams? Is it Darcy? Did Sibeal do something to her? Or is it the other way around?”

Finally, he runs out of breath and presses his palms to his forehead. “Arra, this doesn’t prove that Sibeal isn’t dangerous.”

“I know,” I say sadly. I want so much for Sibeal to be a victim and not the source of the problem. She still seems to be the one being punished. I need the whole story, but I fear confronting Sibeal about her sister will only drive her away from me.

I look up at Tanner helplessly. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand who I’m supposed to be helping.”

Tanner pulls me under his arm and sighs. “What did this Darcy chick do in your dream last night?” Tanner asks. “Let’s start there.”

“Do you remember the boy I told you about from the second dream?” I ask.

Tanner nods. “Sure, the one Good Sibeal was with in the meadow.”

“Well, I found a picture of him at Sibeal’s house yesterday. She said his name was Colin and that he wasn’t a part of her life anymore, but the way she teared up made it obvious that she cared about him deeply.” I have to pause and take in a shaky breath. Remembering the look on Darcy’s face gives me chills. “In the dream last night, Darcy pretended to be Sibeal and seduced Colin. Sibeal must have escaped from her room and followed Darcy, because she walked into the valley and found them together.”

“You mean, like together together?”

I nod and Tanner scrunches up his face. He tries to shake loose the image, but appears to be having trouble. I know the feeling.

“What did Sibeal do?” Tanner asks.

“Nothing. She was too heartbroken. All she could do was ask Darcy why.” I just want to cry as I remember the pain in Sibeal’s eyes. “Darcy said that now Sibeal knew what it was like to lose everything. I don’t know what she meant by that, but she was so happy about what she’d done. It was disturbing.”

I shiver again, selfishly thinking that I’m glad Darcy is nowhere near us right now. Tanner asked where she is, but I’m not sure we want to know.

As we approach the school, Tanner says, “We need to find out more about Darcy, but I don’t know how to do that without running Sibeal off. She’s not going to want to talk about her, especially if she did something to hurt Darcy. We still have no idea whether or not she has access to the power you saw her use to heal herself. If she does …”

“I know, I know.” My head flops against Tanner’s chest. “There’s no one else to talk to about it, though. Sibeal is our only choice.”

“What about her mom?”

I shake my head. “Tanner, Mrs. Ahearn has spent her entire adult life hiding Darcy and making sure no one even know she exists. She’s not going to tell all her dark secrets to some random girl. I think Sibeal is our best chance. She’s more emotionally involved in whatever happened. I think she’ll talk if she knows we’re trying to help her.”

Tanner certainly doesn’t look pleased with the idea, but he nods reluctantly. “Fine, but I don’t want you talking to her alone. Wait until we can ask her together, just in case.”

“I’ll try.”

It’s the best answer I can give, and even though Tanner frowns at me, I don’t want to lie and make promises I can’t keep. Sibeal is still very leery about Tanner. If she really is hiding something, I’m sure she thinks Tanners knows or at least senses what her secret is. She barely says a word around him. There’s no way I’ll get much out of her if Tanner is there staring her down. The best I can do is wait until we’re around others, but on our own enough that she’ll talk.

Tanner and I go our separate ways, neither one of us feeling great about what the day might bring. As I slip into my seat in history, I notice that Bas is already in his seat, but he doesn’t say a word to me. After my conversation with David, maybe that’s for the best. I try to focus on Mr. Harrington’s lecture. Guilt for the growing list of things I have neglected to tell Tanner makes that very difficult.

I told Tanner once that when I wake up from the dreams there is usually a sense of urgency. It convinced me early on that we didn’t have forever to figure this out. This morning, that feeling was ten times worse. Something tells me we are no longer dealing with weeks or months. Whatever threat is hovering around Sibeal, the deadline is days now. For her and me.

The bell ringing startles me into knocking my pens off my desk. They clatter to the ground and roll toward the wall. Before I can pick them up, Bas swoops in. He scoops them up and drops them on my desk without a word. The brushoff hurts more than I would have expected. I reach out and grab his arm on impulse. When Bas turns to look at me, the strained expression on his face makes my hand fall away.

“Are you okay?” I ask quietly.

Bas’s lips part, but he shakes his head and walks away.

The ache in my chest pushes me to go after him, but I know I should just let him be for now. Besides, Tanner is in our next class and I know walking in with Bas won’t help anything. My bag feels heavier than usual as I shoulder it and head for chemistry.

Our corner of the classroom is markedly subdued all through class. Bas and Tanner don’t speak. I just want to put my head down on my desk, and Sibeal is quiet as usual. My ability to focus is still fairly compromised, so much of Mr. Davis’ lecture about ionic bonds goes floating right over my head. Instead, I find myself doodling a picture of the valley from my dreams.

When the bell rings, the tension between Tanner and Bas propels them out of the classroom before anyone else. I sigh as I them watch them disappear, no doubt going separate ways instead of heading off to our usual lunch table. I know I have to do something about this, but I’m not sure what. Anything I think of has a bigger chance of making things worse than helping.

I pick up my notebook to shove it back in my bag, but Sibeal stops me. “What is that?” she asks, her hands trembling against the paper.

Knowing this might be my best chance, I hand the notebook over to her. Her eyes drink it in hungrily. The tears that begin to fill her eyes are not surprising after what I saw last night. She looks up at me in confusion.

“Where did you see this?”

I don’t answer right away. The right words seem elusive for a moment. “I’ve dreamt about this place,” I say in the end.

“What?” Sibeal asks, confused.

Knowing whether to be frank or subtle is a talent I really don’t possess. “Sibeal, I know about this place and what happened there. I know about Darcy.”

Full blown panic grips Sibeal. She drops back down into her seat and does nothing about the tears cascading down her cheeks. “How?”

“A friend told me that some people are given gifts from the gods they believe in. I have been given a gift,” I say. Sure, it was kind of an accident and definitely turned out to be its own kind of curse, but Sibeal doesn’t need to know that. “I know you and Darcy have gifts as well. I saw Darcy in a dream last night.”

No need to mention exactly how much of her sister I saw, or of Colin, for that matter. Sibeal doesn’t need to relive that memory any more than I do.

I wait for Sibeal to respond, but at this point she seems to be in total shut down mode. Not that I can blame her, really. She’s been keeping the secret of her sister her whole life. I just dumped a lot on her. I decide not to push her any further right now. I need a little more time to figure out how to approach this better, too. Stunning Sibeal into silence probably means I need to rethink my tactics. This whole dream thing was a lot simpler when I was the only one about to die.

Gently, I touch her shoulder. “Sibeal, I think I can help you. Why don’t you call me when you’re ready to talk?”

I don’t wait for a response, but I hope she doesn’t take too long. I have a feeling, though, that she knows how much time we have better than I do. She’ll call soon. Leaving Sibeal alone in the classroom, I wander back to my locker to get my books for this afternoon. My next stop is the lunchroom, but as soon as I walk in I notice the distinct lack of Bas and Tanner at our table.

Beth, a girl I don’t know very well walks by, and I ask, “Hey, have you seen Tanner or Bas?”

“Bas took off in his truck right after class. I think Tanner and Evan went out to the basketball court.”

“Thanks, Beth.”

She smiles and continues on her way. I hurry through grabbing my lunch and head after Tanner. Beth was right, and I spot them shooting hoops on the asphalt court near the back of the campus. Both are too intent on their game to notice me until I sit down on a bench next to the court. Even then, Evan is the one who sees me. Tanner takes another shot before Evan elbows him and points in my direction.

A quick smile flits across Tanner’s lips, but he’s obviously agitated. Evan usually takes any opportunity he can to joke and tease and generally make a fool of himself, but for once, he begs off and leaves Tanner and me alone. It’s a bit frustrating that Tanner stays on the court taking shots for another five minutes before dropping the ball and coming over to the bench to sit with me.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask.

Tanner shrugs. “I don’t know.”

It was pretty clear that Tanner was pissed at Bas after I nearly fainted, but he wouldn’t say a word about it the whole rest of the afternoon. When he dropped me off at home, still nothing. I barely even got a kiss from him. Sunday was so busy with Sibeal and David that we hardly talked at all. He’s had two days to stew. We need to talk.

“Tanner, I know you’re angry at Bas, but I wish you would talk to him.”

“Not interested,” Tanner snaps.

Taking a different approach, I wrap my hand around his. “What do you think happened at the field? What did it look like to you?”

Tanner shakes his head and sighs. “I know he was correcting your posture. I know that’s exactly where I would have put my hands if I was doing the same thing. I know what Bas was doing. That’s not the problem. It’s who he was doing it to.”

“Tanner, he’s your best friend.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier,” Tanner says. Standing abruptly, Tanner begins pacing in front of the bench. “Harder, actually.”

I’m not sure I understand. “What do you mean?”

“Bas is a great guy.” Tanner’s shoulders fall. His head drops to his chest. “I know you think he’s a prick, but one of these days you’re going to realize you’re wrong. Seeing his hands on your body…I just don’t want to lose you, Arra.”

I stand up and catch Tanner mid-pace. My arms slip around his body and I lay my head against his chest. “You’re not going to lose me,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry I let Bas help me. I wasn’t thinking about how it would look to you. I never meant to hurt you, Tanner.”

Tanner’s arms finally come up to return the embrace. “I know. I know Bas didn’t mean anything by it either. It’s just that …”

When he doesn’t continue, I pull back enough to meet his eyes. The odd combination of frustration and guilt hiding there confuses me. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you and Bas text so much?” Tanner demands. “I mean, you keep telling me that you don’t even like him, but there are all these texts to him on your phone. All late at night, too. I don’t get it, Arra, why?”

I’m so shocked, it takes me a minute to react. Slowly, I take a step back from Tanner. “You went through my phone?”

Shame darts across his face, but it doesn’t last long. “I had to know.”

“When?” My voice is quiet, hurt.

“After you almost fainted. When I took you back to the blanket to sit down. You dozed off for a few minutes and I looked at your messages.”

I try to make a response, but Tanner talks right over me, more angry than ashamed.

“The fact that you’ve been texting him at night isn’t the only thing you neglected to mention either. What did you mean when you thanked Bas for helping you get through the needles? And why did it sound like you two almost died on the way to Portland and Bas had to save you both? What else are you keeping from me?”

Other than the fact that Bas had dinner at my house on my dad’s invitation and I just talked to Sibeal alone? I don’t feel like I should have to explain either of those. If Tanner hadn’t rushed off after class, he could have waited nearby and made sure nothing happened with Sibeal. And dinner, well that was my dad’s doing and it wouldn’t have been right of me to kick Bas out after he came to apologize. My own anger starts rising as I take in what Tanner is saying. What right did he have to go through my phone and question me about my loyalty?

“Tanner,” I say slowly, “I don’t understand where all this insecurity is coming from suddenly. I have never done anything to give you reason to doubt how much I care about you. I don’t deserve you snooping through my things and questioning my behavior.”

I swing my bag onto my shoulder and prepare to leave. “No, I didn’t tell you that I cried like a baby when my dad sewed up my cut. I was embarrassed, if you can imagine that. And the drive to Portland wasn’t as bad as Bas made it sound. He was making fun of me as usual. I got scared when we got on the interstate because of all the cars and Bas helped me get to the side of the road and he drove the rest of the way. Again, I was embarrassed to admit how inexperienced and how terrified of driving with so many cars I was. Bas kept both to himself because he was trying to be nice and not embarrass me any more than I already was.”

My anger pushes me a few steps away, but I turn back quickly. “You’re right. Bas is actually a nice guy. He still drives me nuts most of the time, but we’re starting to become friends. That’s it. I would never cheat on you. I would never do what you just did to me.”

I can hear Tanner calling after me as I walk off, but I don’t stop. He should think about his own choices a little more before calling mine into question. I never lied to Tanner about texting Bas. If he had asked to see my phone, I would have given it to him. It’s not like we’re carrying on some secret relationship. Tanner was the one who wanted me to be friends with Bas to begin with.

I storm off to my next class fuming at Tanner for invading my privacy like that. It doesn’t occur to me until I’m leaving English class and on my way to Spanish to stop and ask myself the question Tanner really wanted an answer to, but couldn’t bring himself to ask. It’s the same question David asked. Do I like Bas?

My first response is, no, of course not. As I walk into Spanish and see Bas sitting in the back corner looking miserable, my heart breaks. Am I interested in running off into his arms? It’s not something I’ve ever considered. At least not until David started putting thoughts in my head. I have to admit, though, that he is much more Sherriff Andy than Canvas Boy the Jerk than I gave him credit for when we first met.

Bas’s touch did cause me to react. Most of that reaction was confusion, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for Bas. I love that he is so nice to Sibeal when everyone else steers clear of her. As much as I get mad at him for poking fun at me and being a jerk, he has always held back when he knew he could really hurt me. He is a good friend. One of the best I have.

I have no idea what else might happen between us, but I am done pretending I don’t care about Bas. He has stood by me when I really needed him and I will not leave him sitting alone in a corner by himself. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it when I sit down next to Bas, but the small smile he gives me when I do sit by him makes me smile back.