"What do you mean? How do you know?" Ryder asked, his voice laced with excitement and concern all at once."I... I think it's me. It's me causing the visions. I don't know how, but I think it's me," I replied in disbelief.The truth was that I had been thinking about how I wished things between Ryder and I could just go back to the way they were. The way they had been before all the arguments. Before all the fights. The fact that the vision was about a memory I cherished from that time made me feel like I must have had something to do with it.Ryder's eyes widened and a smile tugged at his lips. "So, how did you do it?""I don't know," I admitted, shaking my head as I still tried to come to terms with the realization. "It just happened."Confusion and anxiety swept through me as I tried to wrap my head around it.I was still trying to explain it all away, my brain still coming up with reasons and excuses as to why it couldn't be me, and if it was, how it was just a once-off fluke. At
We ended up in a pitch-black room and I tried to make sense of whether this was our final destination or was I still being ripped through time and space.The sound of soft whimpering indicated that it was likely we had arrived wherever it was that we were going, but it did nothing to put my worries to rest. It sounded like someone was crying into a pillow and the whole situation made me feel uneasy and sad.The area we found ourselves in was so dark that the only way I knew that Ryder was with me was the feel of his hand in mine."Do you know where we are?" he whispered, clearly as disoriented and confused as I was.I whispered back, "I don't know," shaking my head as I looked around, trying to see if anything was familiar, but it was too dark to tell.Suddenly, we heard loud footsteps approaching from behind us, like some very large person was stomping up a flight of stairs with purpose and determination.The whimpering stopped immediately, and I heard a strangely familiar female voi
(Ryder's POV)Staying by Kate’s side, I watched her battle the internal demons conjured up by the vision. Her eyes were blank, staring into the abyss as if searching for answers in the emptiness.I tried to comfort her, my words echoing in the quiet room, but it was as if she couldn’t hear me. She was trapped there, still in the vision, replaying it over and over in her mind.“It wasn’t real, Kate,” I whispered, trying to reassure her. I hoped my words would get through to her, but so far, she barely acknowledged my presence aside from the fact that her hand was gripping mine tightly. “It was just a vision. It doesn’t have to mean anything,” I went on, desperate to soothe her and pull her back from the edge.She remained silent, her face pale and her hand trembling slightly in mine. I wasn’t sure whether she believed me or if she was too lost in her own fears to respond or maybe she wasn't even hearing me at all. I felt helpless, unsure of how to reach her. The only thing I could do
(Ryder's POV)Tyler pulled the covers over her as she curled up, the weight of the vision that clung to her evident in her every movement.Tyler shot me a look, half annoyance and half gratitude. I knew he was just as desperate as I was to see her find some peace, even if it was through borrowed medication.“Are you sure that’s okay?” Tyler asked, his voice a mix of concern and frustration.“They’re just for anxiety and to help me sleep,” I replied, keeping my tone even. “It should help her get some rest.”Tyler nodded, though he still seemed uncertain.“Thank you,” she whispered, looking at me now.All I could do was nod in response though as I watched Tyler take a seat beside her on the bed, holding her hand and kissing her fingers gently.Jealousy began to rise inside me, but I knew I needed to smother it immediately. I'd had this... I'd lost this... It was my own fault. Not his. Not hers. Mine. And if I had any hope of any semblance of a relationship with her, I needed to get over
(Katelyn's POV)I woke up feeling groggy and disoriented. Blinking against the morning light, I opened a sleepy eye and saw Tyler curled up on the other side of the bed, but he was so far away I could barely reach him.I groaned and shuffled closer to him, craving his comfort. He was lying on top of the sheets, which I couldn't help but be annoyed by because I wanted to be closer to him without any barriers. I didn't want to wake him up though, so I just nuzzled against him, hoping he would wrap his arms around me.He stirred, opening his eyes groggily and looking down at me with surprise and confusion. "I'm not Tyler," he mumbled sleepily."Oh," I responded, pulling away slowly as my face flushed with embarrassment.Ryder sat up and rubbed his eyes. "How are you feeling today?" he asked, his voice still heavy with sleep."I feel okay, but I really need to pee," I replied, my voice groggy.He chuckled softly. "You better go then."I groaned again as I climbed out of bed, swaying sligh
Once I was dressed, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and messaged Tyler to let him know I was up and feeling a bit better. I thanked him for being there for me yesterday. Then I followed my nose to the kitchen as the smell of pancakes wafted through the house.When I walked in, Ryder looked up at me. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "You doing okay?"I nodded. "Better than yesterday," I replied, which he seemed relieved to hear."Do you want to talk about it?" he offered tentatively.I shrugged, "Yeah, I think I do," I replied, surprising us both.Ryder spooned pancake batter into the pan as I took a seat at the kitchen island."So, what did you see?" I asked, wanting to get a better idea of his perspective so that I could compare it to my own.He hesitated before replying, probably concerned that delving into the vision again might be some kind of trigger for me."I just want to try and see whether we saw the same thing and whether we have the same interpretation of it,
I spent most of the day with my nose buried in a book, trying to lose myself in the pages and escape the persistent thoughts swirling in my mind.Ryder had gone to do some work in his studio. It kind of felt like he was keeping himself busy as a way of avoiding me. Maybe that's not the right way to phrase it... More like he was trying to give me space and was keeping himself busy in his studio as a means of distraction.I figured it was probably for the best. Things were better between us. We were civil with one another. But sometimes when I looked at him, Bailey's laugh rang through my head. It was my painful reminder that I couldn't trust him... I couldn't forgive him and pretend it never happened. We could coexist, but I couldn't see it going much further than that.Despite my efforts to focus on the story in front of me, my mind kept drifting back to the vision from the day before. Who was the man Ryder had seen? Was he the one keeping me there, or maybe he was my rescuer? If I co
The next few weeks blended together into a rather monotonous routine, each day indistinguishable from the last.Tyler spent his days as he usually did. Classes, physical training, and other pack business, while Ryder bounced between being my willing subject to test visions on, along with his own study and work schedule, and then also his therapy appointments.Initially, I had planned to practice daily, but it soon became apparent that that wasn't going to happen. It was so taxing that realistically, I couldn't manage more than two or three days a week without burning myself out.The sessions left me exhausted and often feeling sick, especially if I touched someone in the vision. After I figured that out I made a conscious effort to avoid any type of physical contact with the subjects in the visions, which seemed to help alleviate some of the aftereffects.I spent most of my days reading or making notes on the things I had learned in an effort to keep some kind of log for my own records