Shadow of Time (a YA Paranormal Romance novel)

Chapter 11

That afternoon, the Greenes' car pulled around the bend just as Hannah returned from the beach. Paul honked and waved at her as he parked. A few seconds later, the entire family spilled out of the car, looking sun-tanned and upbeat. Except Ivy, Hannah noticed as she veered off to say hi to her neighbors. The eldest girl looked sick.

"How was Monument Valley?" Hannah inquired.

"Amazing," Ivy replied. "But way too hot for me. I have a splitting headache. Amber thinks I've got heatstroke."

"Will you join us for dinner tonight, Hannah?" Sarah said warmly. "Amber invited Emily too, so it'd be sad if you were sitting all by yourself one door down."

In the meantime, Ivy staggered inside to lie down. Paul and Sarah got back in the car to get some groceries in Page, and Amber walked with Hannah to the other cabin so they could chat without keeping Ivy awake.

Amber's eye was caught by Yazzie's motorcycle on the drive. "Hey, who left the bike here?"

"Josh did." Hannah couldn't help blushing a bit. "He was here this morning."

Amber's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. Why the flustered look?"

"Well. He came here to talk. To me."

"Uh-huh," Amber pushed. "So?"

"So, he wanted to apologize for being so weird around me lately."

"And? Did he succeed?"

"Yeah, he did. I couldn't be angry anymore when he kissed me."

Amber's face split into a grin so wide it almost didn't fit on her face. "Oh my God! That's awesome, I'm so excited for you!"

"I know, right? I'm so happy. But, I'm also still confused. All those weird dreams I'm having about him – and I know he shuts people out, but I don't know why."

"Well, you have all summer to figure him out. I wouldn't worry about it."

"His behavior is not what worries me most. It's my nightmares."

"They've become worse?"

Hannah fell silent. The last time she'd told Amber about her dreams, she'd only seen Josh and the primitive village under attack. In the meantime, the terrifying vision of the snowy landscape and the shapeshifters at Rainbow Bridge had come into the equation. Amber didn't know about those things yet – only Emily and Nick had heard that story.

"I can't even sleep without taking pills anymore," she mumbled. "At least when I take a sleeping pill, I sleep so deeply I don't dream. Or at least, I don't remember it. Without them, I have such horrible nightmares that I shout bloody murder in my sleep. Ben woke me this morning because I was screaming and crying."

Amber shot her a perplexed look. "No way. So what do you dream about?"

Hannah shivered despite the heat. "I can't really explain. There's always an onmipresent feeling of danger. Soldiers are attacking the village, murdering people. But my last few nightmares featured these sinister apparitions looking like shadows. There's always three of them. They stare at me, or ... " She took a deep breath. "Or they change into some kind of monsters."

Amber shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like a normal response to being harassed by a bunch of drunks. It's almost like – like you're bewitched or something. You saw something scary when you went to Rainbow Bridge with us too, right? Some kind of vision? Emily mentioned witches when I talked to her about people without auras. Plus, some years ago I read a lot of stuff about voodoo and witchcraft where people cast a spell on you or jinx you. Something like that might be happening to you."