Soul Searcher by D.M. Richardson (novel24 .TXT) 📕

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She was in a martial arts class while a police officer watched her from a corner.

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She was learning how to ride a horse.

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She was sitting at a piano with a strict looking man next to her.

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She was in a ballet class.

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She was playing tennis with a teenage guy trying her hardest to keep up with the ball.

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She was laying on a table while a man put the tattoo on her back.

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She was curled up in a closet trying to stay calm.

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She was cleaning a house with a young woman laying on a couch watching TV.

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She was laying in a bunk bed in a room with six other children.

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She was making a baby’s bottle.

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She was mowing someone’s lawn.

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She was carrying wood into a house.

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She was standing in front of a man that had been beating a five year old boy.

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She was sleeping in a bed with a two year old Kristi.

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She was standing in a cafeteria with Chase standing there red in the face.

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She was standing in the bedroom that she slept in now with only two duffel bags of possessions.

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She was introducing Kristi to Sara and Koner.

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She was kissing me on the porch.

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She was facing down her parents.

I felt the pain, confusion, desperation, and fear in each and every one of them. I felt them as if they were my own. I was used to feeling the residual effects of the visions, but nothing this potent. It was if I was there and feeling every bit of it with her.

Now I understood why she kept everyone at a distance. I knew why she pushed anyone away that got to close. She was just protecting herself. And I had essentially attacked her.

I opened my eyes and pulled away. We were both kneeling on the porch and she was leaning against me for support. We were both breathing heavily and she stared at me wide eyed. I was about to apologize for everything when she pushed me away violently. She brought the back of her hand to her mouth.

“What did you do?” she asked in a whisper. I stared at her. She wasn’t supposed to know that I had done anything. I watched her closely and noticed she was shaking horribly.

“You saw it too?” I asked in awe.

“Every excruciation moment. It was bad enough the first time. But forcing me to live through it a second time all at once is cruel.” she said and her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away. I felt a terrible twist of guilt in my gut.

“How did you see any of it. You weren’t even supposed to know.” she glared at me and stood. I mimicked her actions without thought. I was still struck by her being able to go through it again.

“Get away from me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me. You are dead to me.” she said venomously and went inside closing the door firmly behind her. I heard the lock slide home and turned to walk back to my house.

I walked into the house and saw my dad waiting for me like I knew he would be.

“So how did it go? Did you figure out why she was ignoring you?” he asked conversationally.

“Unfortunately” I answered. He took in my expression and straightened up.

“You didn’t” he said quietly. I nodded and he swore. I had only heard him swear a few times in my life.

“How could you do that? If you had just stayed persistent she would have come around.”

“No she wouldn’t of. She was doing it so that she didn’t get hurt when it came time for her to leave.” he sighed.

“Then you should have done what she asked.”

“There’s more”

“What?”

“She saw it.”

“She saw it?”

“Yeah. She took the trip with me. She saw and relived everything that I saw. And I felt everything harder and more clear than ever before. It was like it was all happening to me. God I have never felt that much pain in my life.” I sighed and sank down on the couch. He plopped down in the chair across from me and stared for a couple minutes.

“Everything?” he asked and I nodded.

“But that means it was like she was living it all over again in one dose. That must have been horrible.” he whispered. I nodded again. We sat in silence for a while until I got up to go to bed. I felt completely drained. I was lucky I made it up the stairs, and to my bed.

Rayne

I woke up with a major headache and my body feeling like lead. It had been two days, and I wondered when the side effects of Zeke’s trip down my memory lane would last. It was terrible. Living every one of my worst memories all over again. It wasn’t buffered the way it usually was when I did it to someone else, and I never took them with me. I didn’t even know it was possible.

I didn’t bother thinking about how he did it or what else he could do. The fact that he did it to me was enough to earn my hatred. And it infuriated me that I didn’t hate him. I was angrier at him than I’ve ever been in my life, but I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.

I groaned as I rolled out of bed and started getting ready for school. I didn’t have the energy to braid my hair so I just tied it back at the nape of my neck. I took me two tries to pick up my bag, but I finally managed to get it up to my shoulder.

I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sara offered me breakfast, but I declined. The smell of food made me nauseous. I drank some water then said my goodbyes.

I could barely see as I drove to school. The sun was too bright. Even on a late November morning. I made it to the parking lot and parked. I sighed with relief as I turned off the ignition and climbed out.

I walked into my first class just as the second bell rang. I laid my head down and fell asleep. The bell woke me and I sleep walked to my next class. I walked in and my eyes went instinctively to Zeke. He was asleep at his desk. I felt an odd sense of happiness. At least I wasn’t the only one that was suffering. I sat down and repeated my actions from my first class.

When I walked into physics Zeke was sitting at our table with his head back. Mr. Holmes greeted me and I smiled in response. When he heard my name Zeke looked up at me. I ignored him and continued to my seat. When I sat down I laid my head on my arms with my head turned away from him. He didn’t say anything or try to get my attention, and I took it as a good sign.

By the time the day was over I was dead on my feet. I went to my locker to put my books up. There was no way I was going to be able to do any work for the next couple of days. Koner already excused me until I felt better. I pulled my travel container of Advil from my locker and took three more. It hadn’t worked yet but I was still optimistic.

A flutter caught my eye and I looked at the inside of my locker door. There was a piece of paper taped to it and I pulled it off quickly. I unfolded it and read what was written on it. I must have read it five times before it finally stuck.

My breathing came faster and my heart pounded. I folded it quickly and shoved it in my pocket. I slammed my locker door shut and went to my car as quickly as I could manage.

I went to bed as soon as I got home, but couldn’t sleep. Finally it was time to eat and I forced myself to swallow some of it. I couldn’t eat much, but I felt a little better after I had had something in my stomach.

At about eight o’clock I couldn’t stand it anymore. The note was still in my pocket and I was always conscious of it. I went downstairs and told them I had to speak to Zeke for a minute. I didn’t give them a chance to answer and I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door.

As I walked to Zeke’s I started getting angry. With each step I took I could feel my rage rising. I didn’t bother to knock on the door. I just walked in and heard them in the dining room. I slammed the door closed and practically ran in their direction pulling the note out at the same time.

I burst into the room just as they were starting to get up. Rob had an empty plate in front of him, but it looked like Zeke had barely touched his. I crossed to the table in two long strides and slammed the note down on the table.

“Was this you? Did you do this?” I demanded sliding the note across the table to him. Rob looked like he had expected me, but Zeke looked so confused I almost felt guilty. Almost. He picked up the note and read it carefully. Two or three times.

“What is this?” he asked quietly. I pulled my Advil out and grabbed his glass of water to take them.

“You tell me. I found it taped to the inside of my locker this afternoon.” he shook his head with his eyes wide.

“I don’t know. I didn’t do this. It’s not even my handwriting.” I sighed and dropped into a chair putting my face in my hands. I looked up at him and saw that he had put each of his hands at his temples. I tossed my Advil on the table in front of him and he shot me a grateful look as he picked it up.

“Don’t get too hopeful. It hasn’t helped me yet and I’ve been taking it for two days.” he took four of them anyway.

From the corner of my eye I saw Rob pick up the note and read it. I had almost forgotten he was there. He scanned the words, and put the paper back on the table. Apparently he didn’t need to read it multiple times to get what it said. He leaned back and sighed.

I was rubbing the back of my neck and Zeke was still holding his head. We made an interesting pair. Rob looked between the two of us for a moment then got up and left the room. We sat in silence for a couple minutes until Rob came back. He place a bottle in front of me and a bowl of something next to it.

I had to focus my eyes on it before I could tell what it was. If I hadn’t felt so bad I probably would have gasped. It was a bottle of tequila. He had placed two shot glasses, a plate of lime slices, and a salt shaker next to it. I looked up at him questioningly and he