Foretold Memories

Chapter Seventeen

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Present Day

The sensation of someone's hand on my lower back brought me back to reality. Loren's soft voice whispers good morning in my ear. I quickly sound my own good morning as I test the temperature of my coffee. The warmth coming from his hand leaves my body as he walks around the benchtop to prepare his own coffee. I down the remnants of the contents of my mug and let the warm and bitter liquid slide down my throat. I put my dish into the sink, grab the current book I was reading from the coffee table in the lounge room, and make my way outside. Basking in the mornings sun, I curse the sudden chill that has set. I pretend to read my book as I figure a way to find the house that I saw in the memory. If I needed to sneak in and out it would have to be close enough to drive to and from. I'll search the surrounding area on the internet's maps. I'll also have to wait for the three to go in town for their various needs before I can go. The drive there and back is a total of two hours and they said they'll be in town for around two hours, so I have 4 hours to find the rights house, see what I can find and return with enough time to cook dinner. The wintry air pinches my skin; I suddenly yearn for the strokes of the sun's warmth to resonate within my body. I return to reading my book and wait.

By the time I am inside and searching for houses within a 40-minute radius, I notice Evie, Loren and Dauson should be 15 minutes into their drive. Ample time to drive off without them seeing me on the highway. I find three houses within the vicinity and set off in my little blue car.

Evie snuck me out some days when the boys went in town to teach me how to drive again in case of an emergency. Apparently she thought it would be difficult for me to re-learn considering I had a manual instead of the basic automatic but my muscle memory kicked in as soon as I sat in the seat. Adjusting the mirrors, the distance of the seat and ensuring Evie had her seatbelt on.

I drive out of the dirt driveway and listen to the inbuilt guidance system telling me to drive in the opposite direction of Evie, Loren and Dauson. The barren landscape stretched on forever. The road, straight, bumpy and full of potholes tested my concentration. The guidance system tells me I'd find my destination on my left. I roll to a stop in front of the house to find a pet dog roaming the front of the property. Next house it is. I type in the next address to the system to find it as my last search. Should have checked the history. I chuckle at myself for not thinking of that before. I drive further into the country side as the sun rises higher into the sky. Finding this house is on the left again I pull to a stop and see the familiar door at the front.

Turning my car off and making my way to the porch I begin to feel a pulsating at the forefront of my mind, creating an ache in my eyes. Spots dart in front of my vision causing me to loose balance. I stumble towards the door and lean against it for support. I close my eyes as a large burst of light flashes in my eyes, my legs giveaway and I slide down the face of the door, flakes of wood scratching and imbedding into my skin. I begin to detach from my body, as if I'm moving through the air.

I open my eyes to find It's dark and I'm walking towards the house from my car. I try to turn my head to see what's around me but I do not move. I try to stop my body but my step doesn't falter. What is this? I feel as if I am in the memory scape of Loren again, yet instead of floating around and having my own thoughts, unlike in a memory. I am living through my own eyes while having a current conscious. My body opens the heavy door and walks through, just as I begin to close it, my head lifts, noticing another car approaching. I open the door again to find Evie, Loren and Dauson racing towards me. I tell them I'm sorry as I close the door on them.

As I walk through the house and down the hallway I find the world begins to wobble, I'm standing inside a beautiful, large room with shining black stone walls and glistening black marble floors. The roof is held up by black marble columns and is adorned by cascading, sapphire blue silk, layering the ceiling as if trying to catch rain. Suspended in the center of the ceiling is a crystal chandelier that sparkles brilliantly. The temperature rises as if to sense my presence, it's the perfect warmth that makes me feel at home.

I blink at the sheer exquisiteness of the room to find I am back at the front of the porch, sitting against the front door. Strange. That did not feel like a memory. I swipe my tongue across my suddenly dry throat. Peering at my watch I notice three hours have passed. "Oh god." I groan. How did this happen?

I race back to my car realising I'll have to come back another day. Driving back to the house I try not to think about the reality of what happened to me. I blissfully notice that the Toyota Prado isn't here, signifying I'm the first to return. I pull into my spot under the shade of the tree where the cars are usually situated. I jog inside and begin to prepare dinner. Not but 5 minutes into making my preparations I hear the Prado pull in. I quickly strain my neck to peer outside the front window. Loren and Dauson are arguing about something while Evie stands beside them impatiently. Dauson playfully pushes Loren backwards, he braces against the hood of my car and pauses for a moment. He stands up shakes his head and Dauson and proceeds to carry everything inside. I turn back to chopping the vegetables I had just washed and peeled.

Evie walks over to me and gives me a short hug. "How was your day? Not too lonely I hope?" She asks brightly. I smile in reply, "With the memory of you bouncing around the couch pretending to be Loren? Not a chance." Evie playfully slaps my arm and puts her finger to her lips. "Shhh! He might hear you!" Evie notices the recipe I have open on the cook book and joins me in preparing dinner. Dauson walks in carrying bags of groceries. I ask if there's any more and he tells me Loren bought enough to last a month. Taking that as a yes I ask Dauson to continue to help Evie prep dinner. I rinse my hands of the vegetables juices and walk outside.

I make my way to the car. I spy Loren putting groceries that had fallen out of their bags during the trip. "Hey you," I flash a small smile, "Need some help?" Loren pauses and nods in my direction. Okay, cold change from this morning... I start to grab at some bags, "Is everything okay?" I ask suddenly curious as to why I'm being given the cold shoulder. Loren pauses again, "What did you do today?" he asks, ignoring my question. "Not too much, how was your day in town?" I reply, not entirely lying since my trip wasn't all that productive, but I still try getting the topic off of what I did today off the table.

He looks at me inquisitively, "Didn't go anywhere? Explore the property perhaps?" I recoil. When he landed on the hood. Oh I am such an idiot. I mentally slap myself for forgetting that my car wouldn't have cooled down, he probably burnt himself from touching the hot metal considering the day had heated up exponentially since this morning. I shake my head and ask why. "Dauson pushed me into your car and I could have sworn the hood was warm." He says, still eyeballing me, calculating my reaction. "Probably the heat, it was warmer today than it has been." I reply flawlessly.

Reflexively lying, nice Alyssa. Just want you want. I scold myself. Loren is about to say something else but I turn away and haul my bags inside. One lie is enough, two lies in a row is too much.