Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1) by Nellie Steele (best books for 7th graders .TXT) 📕

Grayson pulled away, watching her image fade in his rearview mirror. He hoped he had done enough to convince her. He had tried to hold back how dire the situation was, tried not to pressure her. The slower the process was for her, the more danger his family was in. But, he had to consider her, too. He realized how stressed she was and he had to proceed in a way that was safe for her. Yesterday she had run from him in tears. He didn’t want that to happen again, he didn’t want to see her cry again, he had seen that enough times before. He glanced into his mirror again; he could no longer see her. He could only wait and hope now. Hope was all he had, again.

Josie reflected on the conversation as she jogged back home. Her mind wavered back and forth between thinking she was crazy for even considering the solution this man, Grayson, had presented and wanting to find answers so badly she was willing to do anything. She considered the last few weeks; it appeared she was getting worse. Her nightmares were coming more frequently and now she had developed visions. She remembered her upcoming appointment Wednesday with Dr. Reed. Perhaps she should wait until then and reassess following that appointment. Patience was not a virtue Josie was blessed with. The doctor’s lackadaisical attitude toward her issue had frustrated her. Perhaps she was being impatient, she had only had one session with him. However, he seemed unconcerned that she could speak in a language she never learned nor that she was experiencing a severe lack of sleep. She had made it clear that she was uninterested in using pharmaceuticals but he was the doctor, the one with experience, yet he acted like her problems were unimportant, making her wait for a week before another appointment.

She wrestled back and forth deciding if she was making excuses or had a legitimate complaint. By the time she had reached the house, she hadn’t made a clear decision. She was still reluctant to trust Grayson but he was the only one making any sense to her at the moment.

After changing, she made her way to the kitchen to make her usual morning cup of tea. Damien was already up, pouring a cup of coffee. “Good morning,” he said, “how was your night? Got some sleep, I hope.”

“Not really.”

“I’m surprised the doctor isn’t doing anything about that. Michael may be right, we may need to be more insistent with him.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I get that I’ve only had one session with him, but it kind of seems like he’s not doing anything. He hypnotized me and I spoke French and he was just like ‘yeah, ok, so come back in a week’, that’s it?”

“I guess he can’t do much else at the moment, probably takes time to get to the root of what’s causing this dream.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Do you have any ideas on what is causing it?”

“Stress? At least, that’s the most reasonable explanation. Why? Do you have another theory?”

“I don’t know. What if it’s something else? Something… bigger.”

“Something bigger? Like what?”

“A warning? Memory of a past life or something?”

“Memory of a past life?” He chuckled a bit. “Yeah, you’re getting way too little sleep.”

Josie pinched her lips together. Damien felt guilty for laughing and approached her, putting his arm around her. “Hey, sorry, but I’m serious. I think all the sleepless nights might be getting to you. It’s just some reaction to stress. Once you work through it, you’ll be back to your old self, I know it.”

Josie realized he was trying to be supportive and perhaps she was crazy to assume what she was experiencing was what Grayson was telling her, but something was off with the stress explanation. Still, Josie didn’t want to pursue it any further with him. She patted his hand on her shoulder and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, D.”

“Anytime,” he said, smiling. “I am working from home today so I’ll be in the office room trying to fix the code everyone keeps breaking.”

“Okay. I’m going to have a cup of tea on the porch before I join you and try to get some work done.”

Before heading to the porch, Josie grabbed her phone. There was no reason not to get a jump-start on reading her emails while she enjoyed the summer morning. Turning the display on as she settled onto the porch swing, she opened her email and read through a few, flagging the ones that needed responses, deleting those that didn’t. As she worked, a text message appeared.

After she finished with her emails, she scrolled through her text messages, finding one from Grayson: The visions you are having… I think they are childhood memories… I’m not sure though

Josie read it and was ready to respond when Michael came out the door. “Heading in to the office?” she asked, setting her phone down.

“Yeah, I’ve got a full schedule of meetings. See you when I get home, Josie.” She watched him toss his briefcase into the car, climb in and disappear down the driveway through the trees. When his car was no longer visible, she picked up her phone and sent a text back to Grayson: They aren’t from my childhood… I’ve never been to any of those places before

Within a few moments she received a response: Not yours as Josie, yours as Celine

Josie was still struggling to understand how she could be both herself and Celine, but nothing made much sense. She understood that stress manifested itself in the form of nightmares but was it capable of producing visions? The visions seemed related to when she had been hypnotized. Perhaps the treatment had unlocked some hidden depths of her memory, but she still failed to grasp how she had the memories of two people. She needed to find