Aspen County

I avoid Louve for most of the day.

I feel bad, and I know that she's confused and hurt, but I can’t let her know that something is wrong. I can only hope that she, and by default, the voice, assume that I just don't want to talk to her because I'm upset about leaving the Pack. And if I'm being honest, I do miss them. I feel isolated and alone, and I hate that feeling. It's almost as bad as when we were being held captive by Damien, and I had no way of knowing what was going on with the others, especially Louve. I hated that feeling, the feeling of uselessness and weakness. And now it's happening again.

Whenever I have to just sit back and allow things to play out, I feel as though I'm failing my father. Just like when I told Ryder to take care of Louve in my absence, my father told me to take care of her in his. He had known that something would happen, I now realize. He knew as soon as Louve woke up from that nightmare all those years ago screaming. He knew what she could do, and he knew that there was no way to prevent that vision from coming true.

That's why he had pulled me aside the next day and told me that if ever anything happened to him, I would have to take care of her.

And I've failed.
* * * * *
I return to the hut long after the sun has gone down and crescent moon has risen and begun struggling to illuminate the valley. Once I'm sure that Louve is asleep, I grab a bit of food and, with my stomach full, take a quick bath. I sit up in bed with my back and head leaning against the wall.

I remember Louve mentioning something about meditating to go into her head and trying to force herself to see what she wanted. I clear my mind and begin straining to visit her dreams.

'IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER. IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER. IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER. IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER. IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER. IWANTTOSEEMYSISTER.'

I continue mentally chanting it over and over with my eyes squeezed shut as tight as I can. I can almost feel a gentle breeze which prompts me to look. When I do, I'm no longer in my new home, but rather in the large dome at the corner of the village sitting in front of Egeria's chair. Louve is standing in the middle of the room, staring at the doors.

"Really, I can't have one night of peace?" she calls out, frustration lacing her words. "What more could you possibly have to talk to me about? I thought that you had all of your fun last night when you made me go see—"

"Louve, I called you here," I whisper gently. She gasps and twirls around, surprised. "There's some stuff I have to tell you. Wait, what did Monique show you last night?"

She shakes her head, rubbing her eyes. "Nothing, just Ryder and the others. They're trying to find us. But forget about that. What's going on?"

"Okay, I have to tell you something that Monique can't know. Before I do, if I tell you, can you keep it a secret from her?" She hesitates. "You can't think about what I tell you or ever tell her."

"I can try, but I've never kept a secret from her. She knows everything."

"We're gonna work on that. But as long as you can still hold onto your mind when she's there, I think that we'll be okay."

She nods. "What do you have to tell me?"

"Okay, stay calm, I warn. Last night, Keene left a note in my room. Basically, it had the prophecy that was told about our birth: the powers we'd have and the stuff involving Death and everything else. But, he told me that there is actually a way to fight it and free ourselves from its control."

"But Lovett, that's impossible. I can get rid of her as much as we can go back to France right now and see our cousins—it can't be done."

I get up and step closer to her, grabbing her wrists gently but sternly. "Yes it can. Keene admitted that you have no control right now over the voice-thing or what it does or what it shows you. But, his grandmother, Egeria, knows a way that we can fight it—together—and he says that you'll know it. I'm assuming it has something to do with when you two were fighting back in Lunette's house when we got there."

"I don't know if I could do that again—I was just scared and did the one thing that came natural to me. I copied her and just hoped that she'd be thrown around just like she was doing to me. I didn't know if it would work, and I certainly wasn't paying much attention to what I was doing. I just wanted her to leave me alone because I was tired and in pain."

"Calm down. I'm sure you could do it again. Just try it right now on me."

"But Lovett—"

"No arguing; I'm older and in charge." She rolls her eyes at that, but I ignore it. "Just try it. I'll be fine."

Not looking very sure about that, she pulls out of my grip and steps back. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes . They shoot open and she throws her small hands out before her forcefully. As if some unseen force is yanking me backward, I'm launched against the far wall above the thrones. I grunt as I fall in a heap onto the floor. Louve hurries to my side, concern filling her features as she helps me up and into one of the chairs.

"Whoa—ow—they were right about you knowing what to do." I groan in pain and massage my back where I was crushed against the wall. "I think we'll be okay."

"But Lovett, she knows so much better than we do what to do and how to fight mentally. She could probably take us both down at once and not break a sweat."

"Look, Louve, they wouldn't tell us to do this if it wasn't possible. They're smart and insightful—trust me. I ran into Keene today, and it was just strange." I pause, remembering the way he stared at me, as if knowledge of my entire life and being was stored behind his friendly brown eyes. "They…they just know stuff, and they know more about this than we do, so we should probably be listening to them. The bottom line is that he told me that we have to fight the voice-thing. If we do, she will be weakened enough that we can control and imprison her inside of your mind."

"Why is it in my mind?" she asks suspiciously.

I shrug helplessly. "I don't know. Maybe it's because it's with you that she came or that you're the one with the visions. I honestly can't tell you, but they said that it will be only in your head. However, I will be able to help you fight to control her, and I'm determined to do just that, both because I don't want to see you suffer any longer and because he told me when we met today that she may one day choose to take over my head as well.

"He described it as a battle in the note and said that it will take place on a New Moon. Not the next one, probably because it's only days from now, but the next one after on the first day. He said that we will have to go into our heads together, kind of like we are now, in order to fight her. He also said that when we’re awake, we can't talk about this with each other, him or Egeria."

"Then how are we going to find out more about this?" Louve looks as lost as I am.

"I don't know, but we'll find a way. For now, we just have to focus on not thinking about this. That's the most important piece, I think. As long as we don't think about it at all and act as though none of this is going to happen, we should be safe from her. Maybe tomorrow we can try to come up with a way to keep this all a secret within our minds so that if it gets suspicious and starts to pry, we'll have nothing to worry about.

She nods and bites her lip. "What is it?" I ask softly, rubbing her arm. "I know that all of this is crazy, but we can do it. We're stronger than she is."

Louve sighs and pulls away, beginning to pace. "All of this would be so much easier to deal with if mom and dad were here," she whispers. She looks at me. "You know, I haven't dreamed about them without it having been a nightmare in months. It's like I just can't dream about them no matter how badly I want to see them." Tears begin rolling down her cheeks, and she quickly wipes them away with the back of her hand, showing me a glimpse of the burn marks on her palm.

"Listen to me." She doesn't stop pacing, so I force myself to stand up and grab her wrists again so that she's rooted to the spot. "I won't lie to you Louve: I don't envy you."

"Thanks," she mutters sarcastically.

I sigh and sit down on the step in front of Egeria’s throne, pulling her down with me. "Let me finish. I don't envy you—after all that you've seen and endured, no sane person ever would. But I admire you." She gazes up at me, offering me the trusting, innocent stare that I used to see on her face every time she looked at me when we were kids. "You are so brave, loyal, strong—stubborn." She cracks a weak smile and leans against my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her. "They would be so proud of you and everything that you've done."

"I miss them, Lovett. I know that it’s been years and that I was so small when they were killed, but I miss them. I'm sure that they'd know what to do about all of this madness: Monique, the visions—everything." She sniffles and wipes her eyes again. "I just want to see their faces again, even in a dream."

"I still dream about them. It's usually the same one every now and again when it’s just been a crappy day, but it’s something. It's a memory of one particular night during the Cycle—I don't know if you remember it or not." I sigh and look down at my lap, the thought of my parents filling my mind and making it seem like nothing is wrong anymore. "You were really small, I think about three years old, if that. It was the first time that you were joining dad and me and not just running around the backyard with mom watching over you—you could pass for a regular dog pup when you were that small.

"I remember that dad had been so proud that you'd finally be coming out with us and that mom had come along like she usually did from then on. It was just the four of us that night, and we were all just so…happy. Dad howled really loud and you tried to copy him, but it was just a little yelp. And I looked up at where mom was watching us from up in a tree, safe for if we started getting crazy, and she was laughing. She was just laughing, and it was so wonderful." My voice begins to quiver. "She looked so beautiful in the moonlight.

"It's just a simple thought, but it always makes me feel better—it's probably my favorite memory." I look down at her, and she's staring ahead in awe. I follow her gaze to the center of the room where our parents are placed, just as they are in my memory. A tree stands tall in the middle of the dome, our mother sitting on a branch with her back against the trunk and a bundle of clothes on her lap as I watch her silently laughing, the action lighting up her face. Our father is a few feet closer to us with his head tilted up as he soundlessly howls at a full moon that we can't see. Their figures are faded slightly, but their presence is as clear as the wooden paneling of the dome.

Tears fill our eyes as we gaze at our parents. They begin to fade, ghosts of our dreams and our past, but we continue staring quietly at the spot where they had appeared long after they're gone. I finally break the silence. "It's just something to think about the next time that the voice sends you a nightmare," I whisper weakly.

She nods and finally looks back up at me, but I'm still staring at the spot ahead of us. "Goodnight, Lovett," she whispers. "Thanks."

She disappears, but I continue staring at the spot on the ground for a little longer, willing for them to come back to me.
* * * * *
When I wake up, I'm on the floor on the other side of the room, pain radiating through my back. I groan and massage it, noticing another square of paper on the bed. A closer look reveals that the handwriting matches the one from the night before, and I reluctantly sit down and read it.

'Lovett, I'll trust that you have discussed the situation at hand with Louve and that we're all on the same page. There is more that I must tell you both which I will tomorrow night. Once again, tell Louve nothing and forget this note! This will be the last time that I communicate with you in this form—it's simply too great of a risk. She could enter your mind at any given moment. BURN THESE NOTES. See you tomorrow evening. -Keene'

I get up, grabbing the other note about the prophecy and hurrying to the kitchen. I light up the gas stove and burn the pieces of paper to ash. As they shrivel, I wonder what I've gotten myself and my sister into.